#little known fact: he has LONG hair in HOO

[alkalische]

can't stop thinking of jason grace's silly little old man glasses in HOO

[ashleyh713fanfics]

Dazai X Odasaku!Sister Ch9

Chapter 9: "You Are Not A Good Man"

Summary: Dazai fights between the darkness of what he has always known and what Odasaku wanted for him. Oda's sister finally meets Chuuya, our favorite angry ginger.

Warning: pm! fifteen year old dazai, Dazai self destructing, Odasaku death mentions, Dazai torturing himself and everyone around him, manipulative behavior from both sides, Mori mentions and grooming themes, underage drinking, talks of suicide, pm! fiftten year old Chuuya being a good boy. I gave Oda's sister a name but you can imagine it as y/n.

(This is chapter nine of my fanfic "Timeless" which is now on A03. It carries on from the three part intro I posted a couple days ago. I'll link it below to fully understand the story. Oda's death has been moved up to when Dazai is fifteen for plot purposes. Asagao's ability is to stop time for up to six seconds.)

Three Part Intro Here: (just cause the first chapter is so long)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

A03 Version Here:

Word count: 7k total

Moving down the familiar port mafia base, Dazai shoved his hands inside his pocket begrudgingly, his feet shuffling as he thought about the annoying conversation he was probably going to have. 

Yet the one thing that occupied his mind the most was the red haired dork he had left behind. 

And yeah, the last thing he probably should’ve done was leave Oda’s sister unattended in a port mafia owned building, knowing that she had a habit of not following directions and staying put. She had run away from Ango three weeks ago after all, what was to stop her from doing the same thing here?

It was no secret that she liked to cause trouble, in more ways than one.

But unlike the agent, Dazai didn’t underestimate her. Yes, leaving her alone wasn’t preferable but he also knew that she was fully capable of handling herself if someone did decide to step out of line and mess with her. Hell, she could probably outsmart and kick the asses of every incompetent subordinate in the building if she wanted. 

The truth was, she didn’t need his protection, not in the way that Ango thought she did. Asagao was calculating when she wanted to be, even if she was limited by the effects of alcohol currently. She was still a force to be reckoned with and the boy wasn’t worried in the slightest at the fact that he had just left her in a den of wolves. 

And in some sort of way, the boy looked at this little opportunity as a kind of test, wanting to see just how the girl would react to his way of life. Most people wouldn’t have been able to handle his port mafia lifestyle but Asagao, he knew that she could.

And not only that, he knew that she could thrive in it if given the opportunity. 

Was it wrong to think that though? Was it fucked up to hope that she would be in danger while he was gone just so he could see the full extend of her capabilities? That was probably not something a good person was supposed to do, but what could he say? The situation was too perfect to pass up. 

Humming to himself at the thought, Dazai then frowned at the shift in air only to vaguely feel a burst of air approach from his left, causing the boy to quickly duck in order to just merely miss a kick in his direction. “You piece of shit, there you are! I’m gonna kill you!” 

Already groaning at the sound of his voice, the brown haired mafioso simply closed his eyes before turning in order to meet a very familiar head of ginger

Ah, right on cue. “Aww Chuuuuya, did you miss me that much? And thanks for the offer but dying by your hand doesn’t really interest me at all.” 

Watching Chuuya shake his head in exasperation, the boy grumbled back, clearly bursting at the seams from unkempt anger the entire day. “Shut up! You left me alone to take down those losers by myself. Do you know how outnumbered I was because you decided to ditch?!” 

Dazai only raised an eye though, mocking his pathetic partners immediately.. “Oh boo hoo, I thought the famous gravity manipulator could handle a few measly thugs, but it looks like you are more incompetent than I thought if you’re complaining about this much. Pity, I thought you were at least a little useful to me..” 

The boy then shrugged his shoulders only for his partners to immediately wrap his gloved hand around Dazai’s jacket in order to shake him around as usual. “Screw you, I did take down all those idiots by myself! They didn’t stand a chance!”  

Dazai then replied halfheartedly, his finger in his ears in order to block out the ringing from Chuuya’s shouting. “Then what’s the problem? The job was done, wasn’t it? Unless you just like yelling to hear yourself talk?” 

That only seemed to make the hot headed mafioso even more angry though, his fingers tightening on his partner's jacket before yelling even louder than before. “The problem is that you ditched for nothing just to make me look like an idiot!” 

Scoffing in response, Dazai smirked. “Oh Chuuya, you don't need my help for that, you do that to yourself..” 

Then the bandaged boy simply lifted his hands out in defense before smiling in wistful memory of today's events. “And if you must know, I was very busy. I told you, I promised a lovely young lady a good time. What kind of man would I be to deny such a wonderful request?” 

Dazai then thought back to the adorably drunk Asagao that was waiting for him back at his apartment. And though he loved pissing off Chuuya, tonight this was the last place he wanted to be. 

Closing his eyes in exasperation, Chuuya then caught the silence in his idiot partner's gloat before forcing himself to let go of the boy with a grumble.  “Listen, I don’t care about what kind of fucked up disgusting shit you do in your free time or what kind of brain damaged girls you manipulate for your own selfish whims. Just know that if you pull that shit again, you’re gonna regret it.” 

Dazai only raised an eye in amusement though. Calling Asagao brain damaged, what a way with words he had. It’s like he was implying that he was forcing her to date him. If only Chuuya knew just how wrong he was, about how opposite he had everything.

How would he react to knowing that Asagao was the one who pushed him into this relationship? That for once, it wasn’t the demon that had made the contract but rather the angel. 

So much so, the mafioso felt his lips curve upwards before a short chuckle escaped his lips at the idea, causing Chuuya’s head to turn in angry confusion. “What? What the hell are you laughing about, mackerel? What’s so damn funny?” 

Shrugging his shoulders in response, the boy then forced his lips closed before shaking the thought away. Nah, this slug didn’t deserve to know about her, at least not yet. “Oooh it’s nothing. But really, you’re so scary Chuuuya. I’m practically shaking from fear..” 

Then all at once, he watched the red haired kid start to get wound up again, his words practically seething through his teeth in order to point a finger in his direction. “I mean it, dickhead! I’m watching you..” 

Dazai only rolled his eyes though, responding in a millisecond. “How can you watch anything? You can't even see that high..” 

And just like that, the momentary calm was broken as Dazai watched Chuuya’s control completely snap, much to his satisfaction. “Fucking basard..!” 

Yet that’s when a new voice seemed to enter the space, stunning the two bickering children immediately as he strolled up behind them rather unbothered. “Dazai, there you are.” 

Widening his eyes, Chuuya then turned to the voice before immediately falling to his knees in a sign of respect as Dazai simply remained silent. “Boss..” 

Mori simply nodded his head in return, unbothered by the bickering he had just witnessed. “Ah, Chuuya, you’re here too. Seems like you two are just as explosive as ever.” 

Crossing his arms over his chest in a huff, Dazai frowned, knowing that the reason he was stuck with this little brat was because of the boss in the first place. “It’s your fault for making me deal with something so unpleasant all the time.” 

The port mafia boss didn’t seem bothered in the slightest thought, his lips giving a cruel short chuckle before seemingly getting right to business. “Yes, well I suppose you’re right. Now Chuuya, if you would excuse us. I must speak to Dazai alone.” 

Almost immediately, Chuuya responded, his body snapping back up before giving another small bow of his head in response. Whatever the boss wanted, he would gladly do. 

Besides, it finally got him away from the bandaged bane of his existence, and that was a blessing in itself. “Yes boss, of course..” 

The boy then turned around only for Dazai’s mocking gaze to follow his steps before calling back to him all at once, almost like he wanted the last victory. “See you, Chuuuuya. Maybe the next time we meet you’ll be able to reach the top shelf! I highly doubt it though, petite mafia!” 

All at once, Chuuya felt his eyes twitch, his fingers curving through the leather of his gloves in order to force his feet to continue to move and obey their boss’s wishes. But that didn’t stop him from muttering cruel obscenities inside his head all the same. 

Stupid annoying little prick, picking on my size like that. He’s lucky the boss is here or else he’d be dead! God, I hate him so fucking much!! Why did I have to be stuck with a guy like him?! 

And even though his threats were unsaid, Dazai still gained a sense of satisfaction from them, his lips twisting into silent victory as he watched his favorite little toy stomp away. 

------

Mori led the boy straight to his office as Dazai watched him descend into his usual chair, virtually unbothered in order to turn towards his favorite little executive with his usual calm and collected smile. “Now Dazai, could you please share with me why you were absent from the job I assigned to you and Chuuya today?” 

And although his smile was seemingly unbothered, Dazai sensed the threatening aura that always laid beneath. Too bad for him though, the boy was never shaken by his attempts of intimation.

Because of that, Dazai simply shrugged his shoulders, his own lips showing hidden intent, like he was up for the challenge. “Easy, cause it was boring and I didn’t wanna.” 

The port mafia boss only frowned though, his expression dropping to a disappointed pout in order to lace his fingers under his chin. 

Perhaps to anyone else his response would’ve been seen as unacceptable, but Mori already knew Dazai’s cruel mannerisms like the back of his hand. “Now that’s not very nice. I thought we had an understanding between each other when I offered you the executive position.” 

His voice came out scolding, like you would do to an unruly child but the executive knew better to take his words at face value and think it was that simple. Nothing about Mori was simple after all, he had learned that the day they had first met. 

Because of that, the bandaged menace called him out on it, Dazai’s fingers crossing around his own arms with a huff. “Oh please, we both know the real reason why you offered me that job. It was so you could keep an eye on me and protect your dirty little secret.” 

And for a moment, Mori paused, seemingly taking in his answer before his fingers dropped from his chin with a simple nod. “Right you are, Dazai. You are the only one that knows the truth after all. That I killed the precious boss and took his place.” 

Normally the man wouldn’t have ever admitted such a thing but he knew it was pointless to continue the charade, especially since it was Dazai that had figured out his true intentions long ago. 

Why he had given him the position of executive, why he held the boy so highly, it wasn’t without reason. 

Dazai only nodded back though, his eyes rolling in exasperation. “And I’m your accomplice for it all, I was the only witness to the previous boss’s demise.  I know I know. I get it already. If you’re really that worried about it then you should just silence me permanently and get it over with.”  

It was something that had tied the two together long ago. Dazai could still remember it like it was yesterday, the day his tiny little eyes accidentally caught the sharp metal scalpel as it slid across the previous port mafia boss’s throat. 

After the event it was concluded that the old boss’s will was for Mori to take over but only he and Mori knew the truth, that the doctor had lied to the entire place in order to take the boss’s position. 

And since that day Mori had regarded the two of them as partners in crime, always reminding the boy of his place in all of this over and over again like a broken record.

It was almost like he was worried that Dazai would ruin everything with just the slip of a tongue. Instead he used that little secret to try and tie him down to his side. 

Mori simply waved the idea away though, almost like he had already read the boy’s mind. “Don’t be silly. There would be no benefit to kill you like that. If I really wanted you dead then it would already be done. I’ve already stopped multiple of your suicide attempts in the past year, I’m not going to let all that taxing work go to waste.” 

You see, that was one thing the port mafia boss had figured out fairly quickly. For as much as he wanted all the loose ends of his little evil deed erased, the man knew it wasn’t that simple.

In a sick way, he needed Dazai, he needed him to keep their little lie going because with the boy gone, the old boss’s members would suspect him of the murder. 

But that was easier said than done. When he had proposed his little plan Mori thought he was tying himself to a sad pathetic weak and stupid suicidal kid that he could manipulate to his own hand. 

Yet almost instantly the doctor realized he had made a mistake, a grave miscalculation on his part. 

For you see, Mori had learned very quickly that a monster like Dazai couldn’t be tied down. He couldn’t be manipulated as easily as he first thought. And now by putting himself in this deal he had also undoubtedly tied himself to an evil even he himself couldn’t predict. 

But then again, that also made everything all the more enticing. 

Dazai only pouted his lips though, not liking his annoying response. He knew that the guy had stopped his fair share of attempts and the boy still wasn’t happy about it. “Boo. You’re no fun, Mori.” 

Mori waved his childish manner away though, his eyes planning in clear calculation in order to go for the nearby teapot that was just out of reach. “Everything I’ve done has been for the benefit of this organization. I will always do what I think is best for the port mafia, and that includes the assassination of the precious boss. A change of power was necessary, and when the time comes for another change, I will allow the transition wholeheartedly.”

The bandaged boy then watched as the boss tipped over the pot into his cup as Dazai truly thought about the meaning of his words. Was he saying what he thought he was? Was the guy really that dedicated to the mafia? 

Narrowing his eyes, the boy questioned curiously. “So you’re saying that you’ll allow someone to murder you in cold blood and take your position just like you did with the old boss?”

It was an interesting idea, being aware of your own humanity and your own imminent demise. Was that how Mori lived his life, knowing it was a fleeting moment, that he was just a small chess piece in the grand scheme of the port mafia’s legacy?

Mori then closed his eyes, thinking about Dazai’s accusation before simply putting the teapot down onto the table in order to turn back towards the clueless boy with a knowing look. “Precisely. But only if it is someone worthy enough to do so. Everything has a time and a place, and when that moment arrives, my executioner will be hand picked by my own design.” 

The air was silent then but the boy could feel his skin prick with devious unknown intent as Mori stared through Dazai’s nonexistent soul for what seemed like forever.

 And though the kid was curious about his plan in all of this, the only thing that could stick in his mind was one perplexing thing. For someone so against suicide, you sure have thought a lot about your own death. What a hypocrite you are, old man. 

Yet before he could truly stew on the matter, Mori waved the idea away in order to change the subject completely, or so the boy thought at the time. “Now, onto other matters. How are you holding up? I’m sure Oda Sakunosuke’s tragic death has taken quite a toll on you. It truly was an unfortunate event after all.” 

At the sound of Oda’s name, Dazai then felt his entire body tense without permission, the words dying in his own throat all at once. Just the mere mention of his old friend was enough to make him internally unravel. 

And he suspected that was the point, that’s why Mori had brought him up. To gain a reaction, to put him in his place and take control of the conversation for the first time since their meeting. Dazai hated it, he hated the kind of power anyone had on him with just one simple name. 

So much so, the kid’s words came out bitter, not wanting to talk about this. “Why does it even matter to you? You don’t care that he’s gone. He was a low level lackey in the port mafia. Odasaku had no value to you.” 

Dazai knew that was the truth, Mori didn’t care. Because of Odasaku’s morals and his refusal to kill, his position in the mafia was bottom tier at best. He was the equivalent to an errant dog, doing odd jobs here and there. He meant nothing to the organization and therefore he meant nothing to Mori. 

That’s right, the boss was only bringing him up to get under Dazai’s skin, to make him squirm and act out. There was no other reason for it then to shove his own weakness straight into his face. 

Mori took the boy’s reply with a collective air though, almost like he knew the kind of response he would get. “That may be true, but he certainly had value to you, did he not?” 

And he did, to the boy, Odasaku was the most valuable person and thing to have ever existed. He was the closest thing to a friend or a family he had ever had. No one would be able to understand that, not even Oda’s own little sister. 

Feeling his own lips screw shut in order to hide an emotional reply, Dazai shoved his hands into his pockets with silent despair. He didn’t want to pour his non-existent heart out to Mori but he also didn’t want to lie and tell the man that Odasaku was insignificant. 

Because he wasn’t, he would never be. 

Mori eyed the reaction silently as well, his expression unchanging before finally looking away from the boy in order to stare down in silent thought. “I must say, you are taking everything quite well, better than I expected.”

There was something different in the man’s tone then, something that Dazai couldn’t quite pick out. It was like there was something else laced in that sentence, something that sounded like..disappointment? 

But why would Mori be disappointed in his reaction to all of this? 

Wanting to dig deeper, Dazai frowned. “And what did you expect?”

Mori then snapped his gaze back up before speaking distantly, like he was listing off some sort of checklist in his mind. “I expected that I’d be saving you from another suicide attempt, that I’d find you in some sort of ditch alone and broken beyond belief. That’s usually how people grieve the deaths of important friends and family.”

And for a moment, Dazai paused. Was that what he was supposed to be doing? Was that the proper response to grieve someone’s death? He didn’t know, considering the boy wasn’t anything resembling normal. 

He was already broken beyond belief though, even before Odasaku’s death. He had always been a sad amalgamation of what he should’ve been. How could you break what was already broken? How could the shattered be even more shattered? Perhaps it wasn’t possible. 

Perhaps he was too numb to feel any of that. 

But even Dazai knew that was a lie, that for a split second while holding his best friend’s dying body he had felt something. It had been what Mori had described for a split second. Grief, devastation, self-destruction, they twisted into him even more than before. 

He felt the painstaking loneliness stuck to his skin whenever he tried to move around Odasaku’s apartment, he felt the numb pointless burn of the alcohol when he only poured one drink instead of two. Such human emotions, in those small moments Dazai knew what they were, even if he didn't want to admit it. 

Yet if that was the case, why hadn’t he crumbled under it all? Why wasn’t his body succumbing to the pain of the loss? That’s what Mori expected, that’s what should’ve been the logical conclusion. Why hadn’t he given up all together and tried to kill himself again? 

Then all at once, the boy had his answer. 

Asagao. 

Oda’s little sister, she was the reason he was just barely hanging on these last few weeks. She had fed him letters, memories and moments that were so new to the boy that it felt like Odasaku hadn’t disappeared from this world entirely. 

Whether on purpose or not, she had given delusions to keep going, to wake up just in order to read another entry from his best friend’s fingers. Those letters, they meant everything to him. They were his lifeline, the boy depending on them just like Asagao did for her entire life. 

And yes they were fleeting, they were just temporary spells in the end. He knew that, he knew that one day there would be no more words to read and Dazai would have to face that. 

But not today, he didn’t have to do that today. 

He wondered if she knew that, if she knew just how important Odasaku’s writing was to him? That they were just barely keeping him afloat even now? 

And Asagao also, just her very presence filled a void that Dazai thought would never be filled again. Her living, breathing body, her tangible touchable skin, they filled his grief filled soul with a shaky wavering peace he knew wouldn’t last. 

She wasn’t the real thing, but she was close enough to Odasaku for him to keep trying.  To be a good man, a good person. That’s what both siblings wished, what they believed for him. 

And he wanted to do that, for them. 

Just then, Dazai’s internal thoughts were shattered as he heard Mori’s soft chuckle, the sound filling up the entire room in order for the man to sigh. “Then again, it should be expected that your reaction to grief and death would be different, considering you have always been different, Dazai.”

Not fully understanding, the boy then allowed him to continue, his voice coming out in a cruel edge. “Anyone else would look at you and see a child but you and I both know that’s never been the truth, not really. Not after all the blood and death you’ve shed over the years. Such an innocent yet simple term could never fit you.” 

Sure, by looks and hypotheticals Dazai was a fifteen year old boy but Mori knew that was no excuse to underestimate him. The boy was young, yes, but he had already seen far more evil and monstrosities than an old man. Each experience had twisted and changed him into something more complex than just a sniveling child.  

And Dazai agreed in a sense. He knew he wasn’t normal, he wasn’t like the happy and carefree Odasaku or Asagao. He never fit inside that box but in those moments with them the boy liked to pretend, to wish for another outcome then just the demon that resided in his heart.

This hopeful and trying side of him that he had displayed tonight with Asa, that wasn’t like him. He had never tried to be kind before, to give anyone anything like he had given her Bar Lupin.

And though it was selfish, Asa told him that it didn’t matter. That just the very act of trying was enough for her. It was so tiny so minuscule and yet Dazai wondered if that was truly enough? Could he really honor Oda like this? He wasn’t sure. 

But the fact that he hadn’t completely disregarded the idea, that he hadn’t given up yet was new. It felt almost human in a way, his desire to keep going and prove to Odasaku and Asagao that their words about him being a good man could be true.

He would pretend, he would imagine himself as something more than a monster. 

And maybe if he pretended hard enough, then someday it could be real. 

Realizing he needed to say something, Dazai then turned his head, curious to hear what a man like Mori would have to say on the topic. “If I’m not a kid than what am I?”

The boss had his answer immediately, seemingly countering the boy’s delusions with sharp truth. “Why, the demon prodigy of course. It’s what you've always been. Anyone else would be foolish to think otherwise.” 

It was like he was calling Dazai out with his words, like he was trying to shut down his silly little “pretending plan” but even still, the executive couldn’t abandon it. He didn’t want Mori to be right in any sense, but especially for this. 

Leaning back into his chair, Mori then smiled once more, the corners not reaching to the edge of his face before carrying on his thoughts. “Speaking of which, I’m in need of your help. Chuuya successfully completed today’s raid and we were able to capture one of their colleagues. The thing is, it seems like he needs a little more..persuasion..to tell us the rest of his plans..” 

Dazai knew what he meant immediately. Torture. He wanted him to be the demon prodigy and torture this guy for information.

And normally he would’ve jumped at the chance to play around with some pathetic enemies but Asagao was still waiting for him and he knew this job wasn’t going to be an easy one. “I see, and you want me to do it?”

Mori only nodded his head though, pushing his fingers back under his chin with a hum.“Think of it as your makeup assignment for missing the mission.”

Oh, so that’s how he was playing it. He was blackmailing him for missing that stupid boring raid by asking this. And Dazai knew that if he refused then Mori probably would look into the reason on why he missed the raid in the first place. 

And that would lead him back to the pretty little redhead that was in his apartment right now. Long story short, if he didn’t do this job, then there was a risk that Odasaku’s sister would be found out. 

He was giving him this option as a way out, as an alternative instead of digging into his life. And though the boy wanted so badly to counteract his little game, the risk was too great. Oda would be horrified if Asagao ended up in the port mafia.

Because of that, Dazai simply took his hands out of his pockets before smiling back in challenge, just to push his buttons. He couldn’t be too eager about this either, or else it would raise suspicion. “And if I say I don’t wanna?” 

Mori seemed to find amusement in the question though, his eyes narrowing in victory before reading his favorite port mafia executive immediately.

 “Oh, I think we both know that’s a lie.”

-----

Stomping his feet in pure lingering frustration, Chuuya made his way back to his place, still muttering under his breath because of the dipshit encounter with his least favorite person in the entire world. Fucking Dazai, always putting him a bad mood like this. 

What was that guy's problem anyways, always pissing him off like this? It’s like he enjoyed it or some shit. Hell, he probably did, that little asshole would. 

Thinking back to their unpleasant conversation, the boy then turned the corner before shaking his head with a new list of obscenities. 

Just what was that guy saying anyways? There was no way he was out with a girl all this time. What kind of brain dead freak would ever hang out with him anyways? Nah, he was bullshitting him, he had to be. 

Chuuya then turned back around in order to put his arms up in a huff only to feel his hand connect with something solid on accident as a small female groan was heard to his left. What the hell was that?

Yet that’s when the boy’s eyes widened as he caught the sight of a hunched over figure in front of him, the strangers hands covering their face as Chuuya felt his stomach dropped in guilt. Ah, shit, when did she get there!? He didn’t mean to hit her like that! 

Panicking almost immediately, Chuuya hunched over, his hands moving in all sorts of directions before speaking at a million miles a minute. “S-Shit, are you okay? You came out of nowhere. I didn’t see you.” 

The mystery girl only waved her only free hand away though, seemingly unbothered that the ginger had almost knocked her out. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. This happens a lot..” 

At that, Chuuya felt him raise an eye. “You getting hit in the face happens a lot?” 

 What the hell did that even mean? Why wasn’t this chick yelling at him like he deserved? He had just hit her, unintentionally or not he was still in the wrong. 

She only seemed to laugh though, finding humor in the sentence in order to lower her hand a little bit so he could see her large round framed glasses on her face. “Yeah ha ha..I don’t have the best eyesight…” 

And though the glasses were surprising, it didn’t change the facts. The way she was still holding her face was concerning itself. “Still, it’s my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you sure you’re okay?” 

That’s when the girl simply nodded her head in order to put her hands out in defense with a goofy little smile of reassurance.“Yeah, of course. Look, I’m perfectly fine! No need to worry!” 

 Yet just as soon as she said that, Chuuya watched a thin line of blood trail down from her nose in response, his eyes hollowing in horror as she simply touched the sight with a nervous laugh. “Ah..ha ha..would you look at that..” 

All at once, alarm bells started to go off in the boy’s head, running through every horrible possibility. He did hit her pretty hard, what if he broke her nose or gave her a concussion? Oh, he hoped not. Then he’d feel even worse than before!

Reaching his hands forward, Chuuya’s fingers then swept under the blood in a panic, ridding himself from the sight only for more to take its place. Oh, this was bad. “Ah, damn it. You’re bleeding!” 

The glasses girl only shrugged though, still giving him that goofy unbothered smile in order to reply softly. “Just a little, it’s..” 

Yet Chuuya was done hearing her downplay the situation, the boy simply grabbing onto her hand in order to pull her off the ground with a frustrated huff. “Is your brain broken? Come here already..!” 

With the way she was acting he was sure that she had a concussion of some kind. No one would ever act this calm about this mistake, especially here in a port mafia owned building. 

Dragging her over to the lobby bathroom, Chuuya quickly threw open the door before pointing to the fancy plush waiting area sofa with hastily command. “Sit.” 

She complied a second later with the boy practically pushing her shoulders down in a rush only for her to put her hands up in reply. “Hey, I promise. I swear I’m okay. You don’t have to..” 

Yet that’s when her words were cut off immediately by Chuuya’s hand, his thumb and forefingers latching against her nostrils in order to make her dip towards him with annoyance. “Lean forward and don’t move. The bleeding should stop in fifteen minutes or so.” 

It was a trick he had learned from an early age while in the sheep. A lot of the younger members would get nosebleeds fairly easily so this was basically secondhand nature to the boy. 

And it seemed like the mystery girl knew that as well, her voice coming out rather nasally and strange considering his hold on her. “You’re really nice.” 

Chuuya couldn't help but scoff though. “Did you forget that I caused all this?” 

She only pouted her lips in response though, not at all bothered by the truth. “You didn’t mean to though. You said it yourself. Besides, it’s kind of my fault too. I’m not the best with new places. It was bound to happen.” 

Shaking his head in exasperation for her answer, the boy then caught something else in her sentence. “Speaking of which, who are you? You port mafia?” 

He had never met this girl before after all, and though he was fairly new to the port mafia himself he knew he would’ve remembered her. She was too odd not to. 

And not only that, she seemed way too nice to be in a dark place like this. A little naive and stupid also. Definitely not good traits to have in the mafia. Which either meant she was new or she didn’t belong here at all. 

A moment later, he had his answer, the girl giggling to herself in a cutesy manner before smiling back. “Me? Oh no, not at all. I’m just visiting Osu.”

And because she didn’t use Dazai’s last name, Chuuya had no idea who that was, his head lifting in confusion. “....Osu?” 

She then attempted to nod under his fingers, beaming with child-like excitement. “Yeah! I’m gonna surprise him with a sleepover! Ah, I really hope he likes it. I want to make him just as happy as he makes me.” 

Her feet then began to kick happily underneath him with hidden joy as Chuuya couldn’t help but wonder who this guy really was. Sleepovers seemed kind of childish for the port mafia but then again she seemed so happy about it. He hoped it went well for her. 

Feeling her tilt her head up without permission, the red haired girl then added.  “And what about you Mr. Ginger? I take it that you're port mafia.” 

It was a conclusion that was fairly obvious given the place that they were in. So much so, Chuuya barely gave much thought to her clever deduction in order to latch his fingers even tighter around her nose in order to pull her head back down.  “Yeah I am, so you better listen to me and quit moving or else..” 

She took in his threat immediately before another apologetic smile crossed her fingers. This guy was really serious, huh? “Okay okay sorry.” 

Then all at once, Chuuya felt his shoulders relax, the anger dissipating only for that same heavy guilt to sink in. “I’m sorry too, for hittin you like this. I wasn’t thinking straight.” 

This girl wasn’t even a port mafia, she was just some guy's girlfriend or something. She had probably never even seen blood in her life and he had done something so horrible to her. A thousand apologies would never be enough. 

She only batted her eyes though, still not angry or spiteful in the slightest. “What were you thinking about?” 

Almost immediately, her words brought back the annoyances of the night, Chuuya still hearing Dazai’s ear grating insults in his ears. “Just an annoying bandaged dumb ass I have to work with. He pisses me off, that’s all.” 

What Chuuya didn’t notice though, was the way Asagao perked up at the sound of his description, her voice coming out rather curious and coaxing. “Bandaged dumb ass?” 

Nodding his head in fury, Chuuya then grumbled to himself before forcing the distaste down his throat. “Yeah, but it’s not something you gotta worry about. That guys not worth anyone's time, especially yours.” 

God, he knew that Dazai would’ve eaten this poor girl alive if he was here. She was too good for everyone in this place but especially for a monster like him. He would crush her innocent little soul into nothing. 

If only he knew, right? 

But naive little Chuuya didn’t know, his lips fixed into a frown only for the female stranger to say something rather out of pocket. “Sounds like you two are close..” 

Close? What kind of joke was that? Yeah, the boy guessed he was close to Dazai in some capacity but not any he wanted to be. They were partners, forced to be stuck together. That’s it. Just what was this girl saying, what was she inferring from his words? 

She didn’t think that two were…friends…right?

Because that was disgusting. 

And he wanted her to know that. “Close?! You gotta be fucking kidding me, I hate that guy. I’m just forced to work with him, that's all. Calling me a dog all the damn time.” 

Seriously, just what was this girl thinking? The day he actually became close to a guy like Dazai would be his last fucking day of earth. 

Yet there was something in his sentence, something at the end that caused Asagao’s head to tilt back up against his hand as her lips parted open in some sort of delicious realization. Oh, so this is your dog, Samu. I can see why you love him.

And for a moment, Chuuya paused, sensing something different in the air. 

Just why was this innocent girl looking at him so deviously, like a predator finding a new prey? It kind of creeped him out, like a horrible case of deja vu. “Why are you looking at me like that?” 

Yet just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared, the girl’s head tilting back down in order to kick her legs back and forth with some sort of hidden delight. “Oooh nothing. Just thinking, that’s all.” 

The way she said that, it sounded so similar to Dazai that he couldn’t help but cringe, pushing his fingers away from her nose all at once.

But that was silly, that bastard was just getting in his head. The two couldn't be alike. She was too nice to be that twisted. 

Shaking the idea away, the ginger haired boy then took a step back before running his hands under the sink next to him with a huff. “Right..well that should be good enough for now. When you get back to Osu or whatever, make sure he takes care of you.” 

Then he watched as the red haired girl seemingly hopped to her feet before giving him a small smile in return. “Thanks..” 

Her tone was open ended, like she was looking for his name. And because he didn’t see the harm in it, the boy compiled. “Chuuya.” 

Nodding once, the girl then pulled her hand out of her pocket for him to shake before repeating the gesture. “Asagao.” 

He took her hand reluctantly, shaking back and forth before the two kids made their way out of the bathroom only for Chuuya’s head to ring with concern. She wasn’t seriously going to wander around by herself, right? That was a horrible idea. 

Pushing his hand to her shoulder, the boy then reeled her back in question. “You know, this isn’t the kind place you should be walking around alone..” 

Yet the girl simply put her hand up before laughing at his worry, almost like the thought hadn’t crossed her mind. “Oh, it’s okay! I’m not alone, I’ve been getting some help. And here they are now. Did you find everything I asked for boys?” 

Then Asa simply lifted her hand up before waving a group of scary suited men over to her, their hands full of various pillows, snacks and other items that Chuuya assumed were for her supposed “sleepover” plan.  “Yes miss.” 

He couldn’t help but gawk at the sight though, seeing the small cute girl sandwich herself between them before patting their shoulders without a care in a world. “Perfect, now let’s go! We don’t have much time.” 

Just who was this girl? And how had she commanded this group of mafia guys to do her bidding? There was no way, right? 

Yet before he could come up with an answer he heard Asagao call back to him, her hand waving as she beamed joyfully from a distance. “Thanks again Chu Chu!” 

Almost immediately he felt his lips twist in annoyance for the nickname, knowing that’s not what he said when he introduced himself. “That’s not..”

Although before he could finish the sentence, she was gone, leaving him to wonder just what kind of hurricane he had unknowingly got himself into. 

“...my name..” 

-----

Feeling his own feet carry him down the dingy steps, Dazai soon found himself back in the port mafia basement, his fingers lingering over the knives in order for his dull lifeless eyes to pick up the blade like a cruel cold welcome. 

He had picked up these weapons hundreds of times before and this was no different. It was like muscle memory at this point and the boy fully knew what was coming next. 

Dazai then seemingly slipped into his own internal thoughts, the warm lights of Bar Lupin and the soft blush that crossed Asagao’s face just a few hours prior. Such things were so lively, so real that he had almost forgotten the damp lonely feeling of where he originated from. 

In Odasaku’s apartment, in the presence of Asagao he could block out the evil inside him, he could ignore the pull to destroy and to trample, but not here. Just by the shift of the air he knew that here there could only be darkness and corruption.  

He couldn’t be a good man here, it was impossible to be. 

But perhaps that was the point, that’s why Mori had brought him here. Because he was getting too comfortable, he was beginning to delude himself from reality. He had told himself that he could change, that he could be more than a monster. 

And the boy still wanted that to be true, for Odasaku and Asagao both. 

Pushing open the rushy hinges, Dazai then made his way to the shackled prisoner before him in order to immediately dig his knife into the man’s shoulder and twist and blade in muscle memory as he cried out in agony. 

And as he felt the familiar sickening joy course through every single one of his muscles, the boy knew that it was wrong. That he shouldn’t have felt such satisfaction in making this man squirm. That’s not what a good person was supposed to do. 

Yet he did, his body, his fingers, his muscles all twitched in satisfaction with the only thing that had accompanied him since he was a child. It was familiar, pulling him further away from his original goals by the second. 

Simply because this was what this fucked up world had made him to be. 

That’s right, he was the demon prodigy, he was shaped and misformed to be this way, a perfect monster of the port mafia. If Asagao saw him then he would think so also. She would take back her belief in him.  

And though he tried to keep that fragile hope of change, with every stab and scream he physically felt it begin to slip away from him. This isn’t what Odasaku would’ve wanted, it’s not what Asagao thought he was..but this was all he had..

As a boy, as a child, Dazai was never given love, he never knew a gentle touch or a kind word. He didn’t grow up with normalcy or any sort of mundane. He went to bed with murder woke up with blood on his fingers and the sound of deafening screams.

Sometimes his own, sometimes not. But the fact remained clear as day even so..

This was what he was good at, whether Dazai liked it or not. 

And that only showed just how different he truly was to Oda’s precious little sister. The things that Asagao had lived through were great but she had gotten away where he couldn’t. She could see more than his pathetic little world. 

She was free where he would never be. 

Another stab, another trail of blood seeped across his fingers only for a dark mocking voice to fill his ears and drown out his victims screams, his own thoughts and guilt corrupting him to insanity.

You are dishonoring his memory. 

He knew that. He knew that so well, that by doing this, by torturing this guy he was going against everything that Odaskau wished for him. But he didn’t know any different, he couldn’t know any different. He wasn’t worth anything else but this. 

You are making his little sister's words useless. 

Damn it, he knew that also, okay?! A haunting memory, a foolish statement, that’s all it was. She called him a good man but what he was doing was in no way the truth. He knew she’d be disappointed like this, seeing him bathed in blood, torturing this man because of own inability to change. 

Fuck, he hated it, he hated himself for being so incompetent. 

What did she possibly see in him? Why did she call him precious? He wasn’t precious, he was a joke. A pathetic unfunny fucking joke. Didn’t she see how he was crumbling, how much of a failure he truly was?

Gritting his teeth against his own chaos, Dazai’s own demons tormented him once more.

You are not a good man. 

And as his bloodied knife raised into the air once more, the demon prodigy knew the truth, his mind screaming it like a death sentence. 

No, I’m not. I’m sorry.

[satonthelotuspier]

Fashion Is Pain, But Fashion Designers Are Worse - also on AO3

Fandom: Mo dao zu shi R/S: Wei Wuxian x Jiang Cheng Rating: Teen Words: 7.7k

Summary:

Omega Jiang Cheng knows his career has a shelf-life and the time is fast approaching that he will be forced to retire. By that time he also has to make the decision on who he will take as his mate.

There's a lot of interest, but he's hiding the truth, perhaps even from himself, of who the only alpha to hold his heart is.

Can he reconcile his own anger at society's expectations, those of his parents, and his feelings in time to make a decision that he won't regret for the rest of his life?

Your correspondent has been watching the swansong summer of a certain omega with great interest. It’s been a busy time on the catwalks of Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong as the fashion power houses have been making up for time lost during lockdown with streams of shows, press events, new line launches and the resultant melee that goes along with them.

Our elegant swan has been in high demand, and has likely wracked up more travel miles between the fashion centres of China than we’d like to even think about. Not unusual given that this is their last dance and every house is eager to cash in on the extra press offered our darling omega due to the timing of this season.

Being honest, it’s making Your Correspondent a little maudlin thinking of next year without them.

Even with the hoo-ha in full swing, what does surprise is the fact that, with our swan’s birthday fast approaching, there has still yet to be any engagement announced by the family.

Your correspondent is entirely sure it’s not for lack of prospective mates.

One thing is for certain, however, by our swan’s imminent birthday, an engagement will have to be announced, lest the family lose control of the decision, and our darling omega is assigned a mate by public lottery.

Your correspondent will continue to watch with interest.

“Jiang Cheng.” The sound of his name pulled him out of his catnap. “We’re almost there, Heimao.” Nie Mingjue informed, and Jiang Cheng altered his posture in the backseat of the car, wiped surreptitiously at his chin to catch any stray drool that had put in a special appearance while he had been sleeping, and ran a hand through his hair to tame any rogue strands.

It was a practised series of movements that were long ingrained in Jiang Cheng now; he was well trained at catching up on sleep where he could, and ensuring that he always looked his best where cameras might catch him; even after one of said naps.

“Thanks, Dage.” He had known Nie Mingjue for many years, being school-friends with his younger half-brother Nie Huaisang, and had always just called him the same way as his friend. He had been lucky enough that Nie Mingjue’s existing security contract had run out about the same time his parents had been looking for a personal bodyguard for him.

They had been together over a decade by now, and Jiang Cheng appreciated the cool competence of the other. He was professionalism mixed with caring older brother, and Jiang Cheng had gotten through some tough times in what was, after all, an extremely demanding job, through leaning on Nie Mingjue’s solid shoulder.

He tried his very best in return not to cause Nie Mingjue much trouble, being a model body to guard. When it came to his personal safety Nie Mingjue was in charge and he listened.

The solidly built security consultant wouldn’t be a terrible choice for a mate. Nie Mingjue had offered, knowing it was preying heavily on Jiang Cheng’s mind with the fast-approach of his twenty-fifth birthday. The birthday at which society decreed that, no matter how successful or independent an omega was, that was the point at which they had to have taken a mate.

It was obvious the looming population crisis wasn’t going to be solved by a single omega choosing not to breed, but the law was the law, and he had very little choice in the matter. In a society where male births vastly outnumbered female, a male omega was a commodity.

So choose he had to. Before November.

He glanced over at Nie Mingjue. Big, solid, capable Siberian tiger Nie Mingjue, who would be someone he could rely on. It wasn’t that they never clashed; that would be impossible. Both of them had tempers. But he had never felt unsafe with Nie Mingjue, and he doubted he ever would.

But as with every single offer he had received, something held him back from taking the leap.

Perhaps it was his feelings for...someone else.

Who didn’t necessarily please his mother. Less than hired staff would.

At least Nie Mingjue belonged to the correct genus of Felidae for his mother. That other person hit both negatives.

He had been reminded again and again taking a mate was a duty. To family and country. And perhaps that had been part of the problem. Perhaps because of that he had become resistant to making the choice he wanted most for himself, because even if he did have feelings for that someone else, he wouldn’t necessarily be making that choice at all at the moment. Or, if he did, it wouldn’t be with the view to retire from his profession and begin to breed for the good of the world.

He had until November. Then the choice would be taken out of his, or his family’s, hands. Then who knew what might happen?

For himself, or anyone else, the choice would have to be made sooner rather than later.

He sighed, and to distract himself, he began to scroll through his phone. He had lots of communications to catch up on, but he would have time for those when he was in hair and makeup.

He checked a few news articles and gossip columns out of nihilistic fascination.

“Dage!” He had found Nie Huaisang’s latest gossip rag offering straight away. No doubt he sounded whiny, but it was too late to change his tone now. “Can you please tell Huaisang to stop spreading his speculative rubbish about me in his gossip column. He’s as subtle as a panda with a mallet.”

Nie Mingjue only shrugged, however. “What power do you think I have over my brother, Heimao?” He asked with a hint of a grin in his voice.

Jiang Cheng pouted. Not even the cute nickname the other had called him since he was a young, clumsy black leopard cub could soothe him this time though.

A new message came through and he picked it up just as they pulled in just underneath the large, glass-fronted skyscraper owned by Jiang Corp.

Yang Hai, his assistant, along with the other’s twin sister Yang Mei, who between them ensured he had help on hand whenever necessary, had sent a text telling him everything was ready, he just needed to make his way to his dressing room.

He’s here.

The final line of the message wasn’t a surprise, but it didn’t mean that his heart didn’t pound a little at the knowledge.

He grabbed a bottle of water out of the mini refrigerator in the back of the car, and drained half in one go, trying to soothe his own giddiness, and took the rest with him as he slid from the seat as Nie Mingjue held the door open for him.

There were met at the elevator by Yin Zhu, one of his mother’s assistants, who filled him in on the fine details of the evening.

“I need a shower. The flight was delayed two hours and we had to come here directly.” He told her.

“Furen already informed us, xiansheng. You may use the facilities in her office, as she is in last minute preparation meetings for the next hour.” With her words she pressed the relevant floor number, with her ID badge unlocking the private upper floors of the building. They were soon in his mother’s top floor rooms, and Nie Mingjue took up point at the outer sitting room while he used the facilities.

Necessity had made him the king of the quick shower, but he did have a little extra time, having cut out a trip back to his apartment from the airport, and coming here directly, so he spent a few extra minutes under the spray, enjoying feeling the tension of the day drain away along with the soapy hot water.

After his shower, he threw on fresh clothes from his ever-present overnight bag, and made his way down to the dressing rooms. Once in the hustle and bustle of the dressing areas he knew he’d be fine for a while, and he urged Nie Mingjue to take a break, and make sure he ate something. The other would be by his side after the event began, for most of the night and wouldn’t get a chance until afterwards.

Hair and makeup were his first port of call, and he caught up with his text messages while he sat in front of the mirrors.

His older sister Jiang Yanli said she was excited to catch up later, although she had already been through the dressing process and was by their parents’ side while the final touches were seen to.

Lan Xichen expressed his delight at being invited to tonight’s launch party by Jiang Corp, and hoped Jiang Cheng would spare him a little time later, and perhaps consider his offer.

Another offer of a mate who he could definitely do worse than. Lan Xichen; handsome, urbane, erudite, well-educated, and President of the Lan fashion house, was someone who Jiang Cheng had dated casually when he had been in the same city with free time. A snow leopard whose family originally came from a mountainous region of Jiangsu, but who’s more recent antecedents had started a design house based in Shanghai. He was engaging company, and had a way of making his date feel like the centre of his world at that moment, which was quite a feat for someone with as much responsibility as Lan Xichen held.

But yet again, in his heart Jiang Cheng was still loath to make someone settle for his ‘could do worse than’. It wasn’t fair to them.

There was a message from Jin Guangyao.

Now there was a dangerous man, even the few times he had met him had allowed Jiang Cheng to pick up on that. And it was nothing to do with his alternate form. He believed the step-brother of his brother-in-law was a Clouded Leopard like his father, but he wasn’t entirely sure. It had never really come up in conversation. Jin Guangyao came across as refined and educated, but like it was cultivated, rather than ingrained. He had never been anything but attentive and pleasant to Jiang Cheng, but he had still sensed there was an undercurrent, of a man who could be entirely ruthless if given the opportunity, of a man who didn’t cry too much over collateral damage. He guessed that was the psychopathy of the elite business world right there.

Jiang Cheng had kept a careful distance between them, never wishing to give the other cause to be ruthless in regards to him.

By the time he was ejected by hair and makeup, he had fully caught up with his messages and he moved on to the dressing room. He was taken through the chaos that was several models being dressed by Jiang Corp employers, to a more private section towards the back.

There were several arrangements with discrete cards tucked into them.

His eyes scanned them.

They were all beautiful.

Yang Hai appeared at that moment.

“Xiansheng. The flowers have been arriving all day. I think you’ll particularly like to see this one.” His supremely competent assistant pointed out an arrangement made of two bold lotus flowers surrounded by chrysanthemums.

The choice of message wasn’t even slightly subtle. But he supposed the thought was kind enough.

The card confirmed it was from his parents with love, not that he had had any doubt. He hummed his thanks for Yang Hai’s input.

There was also a stunningly beautiful bouquet, which turned out to be from Lan Wangji. His card was customarily elegant.

Now Lan Wangji, younger brother of Lan Xichen and a designer for the Lan fashion house, had been quite a surprise entrant to the melee surrounding his alleged suitors. Because Jiang Cheng had always assumed Lan Wangji hated him with a passion.

The other had always acted like he did, anyway.

Maybe he was being pushed into it by his uncle, who seemed to have decided he would like to have Jiang Cheng as a nephew-in-law. He suspected that familial pressure was why Lan Xichen had thrown his own glove into the arena, and assumed that must be the same for Lan Wangji. Jin Guangyao was likely similarly urged on by his father.

Jiang Cheng was under no illusions he was a commodity, and a highly desirable one at that. Felidae omegas had always been at a premium, especially in the prominent families.

He smothered a sigh, and turned a smile on Yang Hai. “Could you please ensure they’re sent to my apartment, and some reused for charitable purposes?” Yang Hai was so efficient he knew the other would already have a list of senders to ensure thank you messages were returned at a future date.

The other set to work loading up a delivery trolley which had been brought for just that purpose, then left to facilitate the transportation of Jiang Cheng’s flowers on to their next destinations.

“I was going to have most of them thrown in the trash...”

At the sudden sound of a voice behind him he jumped. Jiang Cheng hadn’t heard the other approach. But that was Wei Wuxian. Soft and silent when he wanted to be.

And he hadn’t realised how wound tightly he was, building up to this.

“...but your annoying assistant wouldn’t let me.”

Jiang Cheng turned, ensuring his face was settled into something approaching neutral.

Wei Wuxian had arrived.

The moment he had been dreading, just because having to try and keep a lid on his stupid emotions was something he disliked, and Wei Wuxian caused more than his fair share of emotions.

The other paused a few feet away from him, watching him intently. Wei Wuxian had several hangers draped over his arm, which he transferred to the nearby rails after a few more moments of observation.

“They’re gifts, you can’t just throw them away.” Jiang Cheng said simply in response to his opening comment, raising his eyebrows as Wei Wuxian turned to face him.

“You can’t. I can.” Wei Wuxian flashed a grin at him. That grin, that he’d known all his life; cheeky, self confident and full of mischief, almost teased a matching smile from him. Almost.

Not that holding it back had been any use at all, considering Wei Wuxian often knew him better than he knew himself.

“Not even a tiny little smile for your Xian-gege, Chengcheng?” He urged.

“Not even the tiniest.” Jiang Cheng said ruthlessly. “Who’s gege?”

Wei Wuxian made a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. Be your grumpy best self. But you shouldn’t upset the man making you look pretty tonight.”

Jiang Cheng was surprised. “Mama is letting you dress me in one of your designs?” It wasn’t that Wei Wuxian wasn’t an excellent designer, just that his mother had a habit of ruling what he wore from the Jiang collections with an iron fist.

“Jiang-shushu insisted, seeing as the core of this year’s offerings are my designs.”

Jiang Cheng was glad he hadn’t been around to watch those fireworks. Even now, so many years of living with each other’s personalities later, Jiang Fengmian wasn’t always able to avoid sparking Yu Ziyuan’s monumental temper.

One Jiang Cheng had inherited.

Wei Wuxian was watching him with an amused smile on his face. “Jiang-shushu promised to take your Mama to Paris next Fashion Week, she was only annoyed for about twenty four hours this time.” He raised his eyebrows, and Jiang Cheng tilted his head in question. “Feel free to bear that in mind, if you want to know how to calm Furen down after making a decision she doesn’t agree with.”

“And why would I need to do that?” He asked.

Wei Wuxian waggled his eyebrows, “you know the only reason you haven’t accepted my proposal yet is because your mother doesn’t think I’m good enough for her precious omega.”

“That’s not true.” That was true.

Wei Wuxian snorted, then turned to begin removing the protective coverings from the clothing on the rail. “Which part, A-Cheng? The fact your mother doesn’t think I’m good enough for her baby? Or the part that that’s the only reason you won’t accept my proposal? Because I can only be wrong about one of the two, even though I don’t think I am about either.”

“Your ego is a thing to behold, truly, A-Xian!” Jiang Cheng was stung into responding to Wei Wuxian’s words.

“Why, thank you. Glad you noticed.” As ever, Wei Wuxian wasn’t phased by his remonstrations. “But seriously, she’s never hidden the fact she thinks I’m beneath you. All of you. Me, a pathetic little leopard cat, daring to raise my unworthy eyes high enough to behold her precious leopard cub.”

And in all honesty, Jiang Cheng shouldn’t deny that was what his mother thought. The fact Wei Wuxian’s animal form was from the Felinae genus, and not Panthera like the vast majority of those who had made offers of matehood to him, was a reason that Yu Ziyuan had always put up resistance to the idea when Jiang Fengmian had supported it. But with that same honesty Jiang Cheng couldn’t be sure if that was the entire reason she disliked Wei Wuxian so much, or just the convenient excuse she made for her disagreement.

Wei Wuxian didn’t have the most endearing personality; at least in some people’s eyes.

“You know, you might be making your mother angry, but Jiang-shushu would be ecstatic. So either way you’re going to make one parent unhappy, might it not as well be the decision you want to make so at least you are happy?” Wei Wuxian pressed.

And Jiang Cheng had indeed thought of that himself. So many times.

But as with every other possibility he had been offered, there was still something that held him back.

He didn’t think it was anything about Wei Wuxian, per se. Yes, he was annoying, self-confident, a bit of an ass on occasion, but they were all aspects of the other he had lived with all their lives together. They didn’t bother him that much. They were just the personality traits he had to put up with, like Wei Wuxian did with his temper, or occasional unthinking arrogance.

Maybe it was that he didn’t trust himself? And not disappointing his mother was as convenient an excuse as her choosing Wei Wuxian’s genus to focus on.

In the honest depths of his soul, he had already admitted that he thought he was in love with Wei Wuxian, but what if Wei Wuxian was just his rebellion? Because he resented the fact that everything he had done until now didn’t matter, until he gave up his identity as an independent person, and took up a new identity as an omega, where all that mattered to society was how well he undertook his duty as a broodmare.

And he didn’t appreciate Wei Wuxian’s towering self-confidence, didn’t like how much Wei Wuxian thought he knew Jiang Cheng’s mind better than he did himself.

That erasure of identity was something the omega in him railed against.

He didn’t want another person thinking for him, making decisions for him...

Logically, he knew that wasn’t the intent of Wei Wuxian when he kept pushing at Jiang Cheng on the matter.

But it still kept him wary.

He was struggling so very much with this decision, and what would be for the best, it wasn’t fair that Wei Wuxian was just that self-assured. About everything. The other probably had never felt a single moment of doubt or unease in his entire life.

Truly annoying.

“How very big-headed of you to assume you’re the decision I’d make.” Stung, Jiang Cheng tossed his head, and began to strip out of his sweatsuit so he could begin to put on the clothes Wei Wuxian had unwrapped. As he glanced back at Wei Wuxian he saw the other had his back firmly turned to him at the moment, and his shoulders were stiff.

He paused.

Had Jiang Cheng hurt him with his words?

He had been very dismissive. Quite acidic even, hadn’t he? But wasn’t that only in response to Wei Wuxian’s annoying habit of thinking he knew everything better than anyone else?

Yes of course it was.

Did it mean Wei Wuxian didn’t have feelings that could be hurt too?

He had used to think that that was indeed the case. But it was impossible. Of course Wei Wuxian could be hurt, just like everyone else.

Jiang Cheng also thought that the feelings Wei Wuxian had for him were a genuine form of affection. Whether it was love…

Well, could anyone else but Wei Wuxian himself be sure of that?

He licked his lips, and decided to try to apologise. He was terrible at it, and would probably make it worse. But he wasn’t a crybaby kid anymore. He was an adult, and tried to act like one. “I-.”

Wei Wuxian spun around then, a grin on his face that could have been genuine, or could have been there to hide the sting of Jiang Cheng’s words.

“Time to get dressed, Chengcheng.” He spoke over the top of whatever it was that Jiang Cheng had been about to say.

He allowed Wei Wuxian to change the topic.“I’d better look amazing, or my mother will hear of this.” He tried for something a little more light-hearted. Wei Wuxian had always mocked him about telling his mother being his default response when Wei Wuxian had used to tease him to tears when they were children.

“Sweet Thing, it will be perfect. It’s me.” He winked. “Your mother will see it anyway, there’s no avoiding that.” And he brought over the first item to put on.

“I’m special to have the designer himself here helping me dress.” He said in that same teasing vein they had both followed.

“How could you ever doubt it, A-Cheng? Everything about you is so special.” But the other turned unexpectedly serious.

His eyes shot up, and their gazes meshed, at Wei Wuxian’s words, which sounded heartfelt and sincere.

He couldn’t pretend he didn’t know what the other meant. All his life he had been treated like he was special because of who and what he was.

And the sad thing was, that even surrounded by that sentiment from his family and friends, it felt more like a cage than anything positive to him.

“It feels more like a curse than anything to celebrate.” His voice was clipped, and he dragged his eyes away.

“Baobei…”

“Don’t. You don’t know what it’s like, because you can do whatever you want for as long as you want. Whether I was ready or not I knew I’d always have to give up whatever profession I chose when I hit twenty-five, so I chose a career I knew would have a limited shelf-life, and would have that even if I hadn’t been an omega. Just so it wouldn’t sting quite as much when the time came.” He tried to hold back the sting of helpless tears, and he was mostly successful.

But they were still obvious to Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian pressed his lips together, and shook his head. “You’re right, Jiang Cheng, I don’t know what it’s like to have that hanging over my head all my life. But I do know how unfair it is; enough to sympathise with you over it.”

He was surprised at Wei Wuxian’s sentiment, but perhaps he shouldn’t have been. The other wasn’t uncaring after all; he wasn’t without empathy. He just sometimes came across as brash and unthinking.

“But no crying tonight. Makeup have done such a good job already, you don’t want to force them to have to touch it up. Come, dress. Before Furen sends one of her assistants after us.”

There was a part of him that hated that tone, as of Wei Wuxian comforting an upset child. But another, larger part almost melted.

He couldn’t afford to.

“Who’s crying?” He snipped, trying to put iron back into his tone, and Wei Wuxian grinned.

Wei Wuxian was also very correct, it was time to dress, and Wei Wuxian began to help him on with his outfit for the evening.

He was especially careful to keep his touch impersonal and businesslike as piece after piece was donned, despite the fact he was quite tactile as a person. And despite the fact Jiang Cheng was still hyper-aware of it, it helped him focus a little more on the task at hand and not this awkward, sweet, delicious, but almost impossible thing, whatever it was, between them.

The outfit itself was obviously based very visually on Edwardian dress; it consisted of a high-necked white shirt with a purple-lace-trimmed collar and a lightly ruffled front.

The bottoms were high waisted three quarter length purple silk and wool blend trousers. They had a wide waistband, and in reality, as he moved It was more like a partitioned skirt, actually, so when he was stood still with his legs close to each other it would look more like a skirt, but when he walked the trouser legs would be obvious. This, over long, black boots with amethyst studs on them actually looked very chic, retro, and elegant. He really liked it.

He expressed his personal approval of Wei Wuxian’s creation.

“You look as perfect as I knew you would.” Wei Wuxian said as he stepped back to admire the finished product. “You were the only one I had in mind when designing this.”

It wasn’t the first time Jiang Cheng had been told by designers they had made things specifically with him in mind, and it was often a useful chat up line. But he found himself giddy and truly pleased to hear it from Wei Wuxian.

Which maybe made him stupid. Didn’t he know the other flirted as naturally as breathing?

But, call him naive and stupid, but he believed Wei Wuxian when he said this. The other was surprisingly serious about his profession, and really didn’t need to butter Jiang Cheng up in that way. In fact, he rarely ever had. He had always pursued Jiang Cheng with the ‘teasing the boy he liked’ approach, more than ‘promise the moon’ tactic.

And call him a masochist but it had always worked for him.

“You look stunning, Sweet Thing.” Wei Wuxian said, drawing him out of his own thoughts. “You are stunning.” He had avoided personal touch so far while dressing Jiang Cheng, but at this point, he stepped closer, and with a gentle finger beneath Jiang Cheng’s chin, tilted his face a little.

Was he going to live so very dangerously as to kiss Jiang Cheng? Here? Now? With things as they were?

It looked very much like it.

And what was Jiang Cheng going to do in response? Yell at him? Turn away? Kiss him first?

Who knew? Not Jiang Cheng, that was for sure. It spoke of the riotous emotions Wei Wuxian had always sparked in him. He’d never ever been sure whether he wanted to run far away or dive head first into his arms. He wasn’t about to resolve that confusion any time soon.

He could see Wei Wuxian slowly leaning closer.

Damn, but the other was giving Jiang Cheng the chance to push him away, to tell him to back off. And Jiang Cheng could no more have done that at that moment, than he could have sprouted wings and flown out of the window.

This wasn’t a film, but Jiang Cheng would have bet good money that the sound of Nie Mingjue’s cough to announce his presence only happened with nothing more than a hair’s breadth between their lips.

He could feel the heat from Wei Wuxian’s skin, could almost feel the touch of his mouth ghosting against his own, they were so close.

And Jiang Cheng was thankful to Nie Mingjue for stepping in and reminding him where they were.

And he hated him for it with equal fervour.

“Your parents are waiting, Heimao.” His security agent said as he pulled away from Wei Wuxian guiltily.

He threw an unsure look at Wei Wuxian as he put a little distance between them, and made his way to Nie Mingjue’s side.

“I’ll follow in a while. I need to make sure everything here is finished, then I’ll be at the party.”

Jiang Cheng nodded at his words, and followed the larger form of Nie Mingjue back out through the dressing area, and into the corridor. Just as they began to make their way over to the elevators Yang Hai met them coming the other way.

“Ah, xiansheng, you’re on your way. That’s good. Furen wished to discuss a few issues before the party begins tonight.”

Of course she did. Tonight nothing could be allowed to go wrong, and his mother would want to make sure Jiang Cheng was fully informed of any final changes or information to facilitate that.

“We’re going there right now. I think you can leave the rest to my mother’s assistants,” Jiang Cheng assured Yang Hai, who nodded.

“Alright, thanks, Jiang Cheng. Yang Mei will check in with you tomorrow after lunch, there are a few schedule changes that have come up for your trip to Guangzhou next week. If that’s everything, I’ll leave first.”

“It is. I’ll see you next week, have a nice weekend away.”

Yang Hai, everything perfectly efficient and business respectful when on the clock, tossed him a small smile of thanks now he was on his own time. “It should be a good time.” He was attending one of his university friend’s birthday parties at his family’s holiday home at the coast.

The three of them took the elevator together.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Nie Mingjue asked suddenly. And none of them had a thick enough face to pretend they didn’t know what he was talking about.

“His mother could eat his new alpha.” Yang Hai said in a low voice, holding back a laugh.

Nie Mingjue sighed, and rolled his eyes.

Yang Hai did have a point. In a way. Not that he thought Yu Ziyuan would countenance such a scandal.

“You’ve been in love with the kitty since you were a cub. Your eyes go all glazed and dewy and longing when you look at him. Isn’t it about time you put both of you out of your misery and just made the choice you obviously want to make?”

“It isn’t like that!” Jiang Cheng denied automatically.

“Heimao, yes it is. You told me before you couldn’t take Wei Wuxian for a mate because your mother hates him, because he isn’t a big cat. I call bullshit on that excuse. You have half the Panthera alphas in China offering for you and you still haven’t accepted a single one of them, either. Your mother approves of at least half of them. It sounds like you’re just making excuses to hurt yourself at this stage.”

Nie Mingjue’s words came with a hefty dose of reality, and Jiang Cheng didn’t like the taste very much recently.

He did love Wei Wuxian. He always had. Wei Wuxian was the choice he wanted to make, if he had to. The choice he would likely have already made, if making it didn’t make him feel like he was drawing a neat line under Jiang Cheng the person, and starting the new narrative on Jiang Cheng the omega, the mate, the broodmare. And he wished that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t Wei Wuxian’s fault, any more than it was any of those others who had offered themselves as his mate.

His feelings were just so complicated on the matter. And perhaps it had been because the closer it had come, the more of a whirlwind his life had become, and he hadn’t really had time to just think about things. To come to terms with them.

All his life he had known this was to be his future, but the closer it had come the more he realised he wasn’t as reconciled with it as he had thought he was.

“Wishing doesn't change the fact that, whether you like it or not, in one month you’ll either have to choose for yourself, or the decision will be made for you. I’m not sure it’s worth taking the risk of not making that call at this stage. I know it isn’t fair, Heimao, but it’s happening, and I’d rather see you settled with someone who loves you, or at the very least, someone who will treat you with the respect and care you deserve, than at the whim of a lottery.”

The elevator had stopped on the floor Jiang Cheng and Nie Mingjue needed to exit at some time ago, but, finger on the open door button, holding the car in place, Yang Hai had kept them there while the discussion happened.

“You deserve to make the best choice for yourself, Jiang Cheng.” He said simply as Nie Mingjue finished his own thoughts. “You’re the one who will have to live with your mate after everything has settled, not Furen, or Jiang-zong, or anyone else. As...extra...as Wei Wuxian can be, it’s always been more than obvious you feel the same way about each other. If you think he would make you happy, does it even matter what your mother thinks? And if the answer to that is yes, you have options that offer different types of security for you.”

Jiang Cheng could count on one hand the number of times Yang Hai had offered any kind of personal advice to him, and perhaps it was for that reason that his words hit Jiang Cheng harder than Nie Mingjue’s always did.

“On an unrelated note, he’s done an amazing job on your outfit, Jiang Cheng. You look stunning. Furen and Jiang-zong will be ecstatic.” Yang Hai added.

“You do.” Nie Mingjue agreed.

Compliments aside, he accepted that, no, he couldn’t avoid making some form of decision, no matter how long he delayed it, unless he risked even what little autonomy now allowed him. And beyond that decision, he was the one who would have to deal with the forever after it entailed.

As he considered Yang Hai’s words further, the pair of them exited the elevator, leaving Yang Hai to continue his own journey downwards, to the ground floor.

“You can be unreasonably stubborn for a smart guy, sometimes, Jiang Cheng.” Nie Mingjue said.

They arrived in the exposition hall which had been beautifully decorated with the main theme colour being the purple the Jiangs were associated with. It was slowly filling up with Jiang employees and a few over eager early guests, as staff bustled around ensuring every miniscule detail was attended to.

Jin Zhu was at his mother’s side, listening to her rattle off any imperfections or issues that she saw that needed to be solved immediately, and the other dispatched workers with the militant efficiency of a parade ground Sergeant.

“A-Cheng!” Jiang Yanli was the first to spot him, and she waved him over. “A-Xian is a genius, you look amazing.” She said it, but she did too. The long, slim, silk dress she wore, all spaghetti straps and elegant ruffles, again in Jiang purples, suited her perfectly,

“As do you, A-Jie. Wei Wuxian has a big mouth, but he’s still very skilled as a designer.”

Jiang Yanli giggled at his snipe, rolling her eyes as if humouring her baby brother, which in effect was what she was doing, knowing how he and Wei Wuxian often spoke of each other in teasing terms to disguise their feelings.

“He is, and hopefully everyone is going to get the chance to see it this year.”

Wei Wuxian would stamp his mark on the world. He was too skilled to do anything else. Jiang Cheng knew that without a doubt. And maybe that was fair. As much as he railed about his own impending and unwelcome retirement, Jiang Cheng had more than had his time in the spotlight. He was well regarded, successful and something of the darling of the fashion press, and had been since he was a teen. He had a reputation as a golden goose, and any line that managed to bring him onboard generally did exceptionally well that season. He had been in demand, and had worked tirelessly for years, and indeed was doing so right up until the beginning of November. Just before his birthday.

His craft came with keeping in shape, being the body the true geniuses draped their creative output on, which was why he had been able to step into the spotlight at so young an age.

Wei Wuxian, in direct comparison, while long accepted as someone with natural talent, had also spent a long time in the shadows, honing his craft, learning the tricks of the trade from those around him, and bringing all that knowledge together into this, his own real first moment as the forefront of notice. The joyous thing for Wei Wuxian, and indeed Jiang Cheng as someone who did care for him, was that Wei Wuxian had the rest of his life to ride his fame, once he secured it.

The evening was a resounding success, and Wei Wuxian became the name on everyone’s lips over the following days.

The sneak peak at his designs whetted their appetites, and it ensured that when the Jiangs arranged their next full show and catwalk event in the spring, with Wei Wuxian’s full collection, the excitement and interest would be astronomical. Even if, by that point, Jiang Cheng would only be involved on the periphery.

From a personal point of view, Jiang Cheng found the party to be very interesting. As a spectator sport, and for himself.

He circulated and mingled as required, subtly praising Wei Wuxian’s work to anyone who would listen, and being the best advertisement he could be, which was wearing what Wei Wuxian had designed and making it look great, which he did, and somewhat effortlessly, even if he did say so himself.

Wei Wuxian wasn’t able to stay by his side all night, which would have been impossible, no matter how much the other wanted to, to enable him to stymie the other alphas in attendance from seeking Jiang Cheng out and having the opportunity to speak to him as privately as it was possible to in a crowded party. But that did also give Jiang Cheng the chance to watch Wei Wuxian too. The alpha was confident and bright and drew attention to himself almost automatically, with his personality, good looks, and easy charm.

While he was with Jiang Cheng he was attentive, ensuring the omega always had a drink in his hand; first champaign, then water when he switched later. He made sure Jiang Cheng ate something to keep his energy levels up and soak up the alcohol he had sipped at, and he stared daggers at Lan Xichen particularly, every time the other was anywhere within 10 yards of where they stood.

He couldn’t fend the Lan President’s attentions off of Jiang Cheng all night, however, and Lan Xichen took several opportunities to talk to the omega. Their relationship had always been good, and Jiang Cheng liked him as a person, as well as someone who he had casually dated.

He thought he might have to address the issue of Lan Xichen’s offer during one of their many talks, but surprisingly, Lan Xichen didn’t bring it up. It was left to Jiang Cheng to mention it towards the end of the night, because he didn’t feel it was right leaving things in the air and not being honest with Lan Xichen. But the other only smiled at him.

“I didn’t need to ask, Jiang Cheng, I think it’s obvious that you’ve made your decision finally, and I wish you happy, and hope we can remain friends. Although with how your interested party is looking at me right now, I think he might have some objections.”

“Wei Wuxian isn’t the boss of me.” He said it automatically, with just a trace of acid in his tone. Then he paused. Because if he did choose Wei Wuxian that would legally be the outcome. The same went for anyone else.

But did he think Wei Wuxian would never try to exert that kind of control over him, even as his mate.

That wasn’t his style. He just liked to whine and complain and try to get Jiang Cheng to feed him attention in any way he could get it.

He hadn’t denied that Wei Wuxian was his interested party, though had he?

And was Lan Xichen correct? Had he made his decision?

He pondered the question long after Lan-zong had left his side.

Wei Wuxian joined him one final time as the party was beginning to break up. He had a huge self-pitying pout on his face.

“What’s he got that I haven’t got? Apart from a huge fortune, that stupid handsome face, the cute carrying their tails around in their mouth thing…”

“You’re handsome enough yourself, Wei Wuxian.” He said it without really thinking. It was true, after all, but the other beamed at him as he did.

“True. Even though I’m not as rich as him, you’re still going to marry me, though, right?”

“Why would anyone want to marry you, Wei Wuxian?” He snapped.

“Because I’m handsome, great in bed, full of more jokes that you can shake a stick at…”

“Well hold me back-,”

“And because I love you, A-Cheng. You know I do. I always have.”

His surprisingly earnestly spoken declaration of love neatly stopped Jiang Cheng’s sarcastic response.

“I...I know.” He said it, because he did know. Wei Wuxian had never been anything but open with Jiang Cheng about how he felt. And Jiang Cheng, while feeling the same, had always been the much cagier one between them, because he didn’t think they would be something he was allowed to let happen.

But Yang Hai was right, he was the one who would have to live with his mate after he had chosen, so it really was his choice; and while a part of him still wished he didn’t have to disappoint his mother, the other part acknowledged that her objection had been a disapproval, never an outright attempt to tell him he couldn’t marry who he liked.

All along he had built it up to be something bigger, because that had been his protection, because he didn’t want to make a decision, because he wanted to put it off for as long as he could.

An excuse was all it was, in the end, and he was out of them.

“I know you do. And I feel the same. I always have, too.”

“Of course I know, Jiang Cheng.” Fully aware of where they still were, Wei Wuxian traced the backs of his fingers against Jiang Cheng’s cheek, quickly, and lightly. A stolen caress in public, more than he should have attempted, but less than he wanted to do. “I hope you know that nothing between us will change after. I’m not going to start telling you where you can go, or who you can go with…”

“I know.” And despite his fears, Jiang Cheng did know it. He’d fully accepted by now Wei Wuxian wasn’t going to be one of those mates at all. “I’m still angry and hurt about having to give up my career, but at least I can be by your side while you embark on your career. I always knew mine would have a shelf life. Maybe while we have a family I’ll throw my hand in at designing myself. It’s not like I couldn’t convince A-Die to push them even if they were terrible. Maybe we can be rival designers.”

“Maybe you should. I’m pretty confident in my own designs though, A-Cheng. And you know, no matter what Jiang-shushu said, Furen would toss any dross straight into the bin. Even it was her precious baby’s.”

Truer words had never been spoken.

“I think searching for the thing you might want to do after modelling would be a good way to ease yourself out of the glamorous jet-setting of being a model though, A-Cheng, you should put some thought into it.”

He really should. He couldn’t be in the public eye anymore, but that didn’t mean he had to sit at home idle just waiting for babies to occur.

With his decisions made, and a new focus for his attention identified, he felt a little more positive about the future of his life outside of his relationship. Within in, he couldn’t be happier. Wei Wuxian was always the choice he had wanted to make, and now he had given himself permission to do just that, everything else would surely fall into place.

Your correspondent has been watching with great interest, and there is a suddenly persistent rumour that a certain swan has finally made a decision on a mate, and an announcement is imminent. This will no doubt be a relief to our swan’s family, who were likely watching with just as much interest, with their breaths held.

There may be an element of the unexpected in the chosen cob, but a swan, who mates for life, will have made their decision with attention and care, Your correspondent has no doubt.

Our elegant bird will absolutely be struggling to fit an engagement announcement and party into an already packed schedule in the run up to their birthday, but we still don’t feel that it would be too much to expect an early December wedding.

Your correspondent can barely contain their own excitement at the thought of the wedding outfits, given the profession of our swan cobs.

The other benefit is that, while not working professionally, we can expect to see still more of our swan at events in future. That they will be wearing the latest fashion hits-to-be will be a given.

Your correspondent hopes you will join them in wishing every happiness to both our darling swan and their chosen mate.

[kayssweetdreams]

Maestro Hiccups Nightmares Unleashed Part 12

Emma felt a sense of weightlessness as she fell through a dark blue void. Small stars flew by her as she gently fell. She wanted to be scared, but she didn't feel scared, in fact, she felt...calm, and at peace. She was falling down for a very long time, until a small plaza, surrounded by a forest came into view. The blonde haired girl gently landed on the ground, as she looked around her new surroundings.

"Is this really a dream? It feels so real..." she said, her hand grazing a nearby bush. However, one thing did get Emma's mind did remember one thing: Where were the others? "Leo? Mei? Yuri? Anyone?!" She asked, but her voice went unheard, as she was alone at the small plaza. Emma let out a little sniffle, This was probably worse than being tormented by the whispers behind her back...

"Hoo? What's wrong dear visitor?" A elderly, but kind voice asked. Emma looked up, and saw a large owl flying towards her. However, this particular owl had on a waistcoat, and glasses...and was much bigger than normal owls. Emma looked at him for a moment, still processing everything "Did...Did you just talk?" She asked.

"Hoo Hoo! Yes I did! My name is Owl. It's a pleasure to meet you Visitor." He said. Emma tilted her head at the odd bird "Visitor?" She asked. "Yes! That's who all that fall asleep and visit the Night Dimension are." He said. Emma's eyes widened "Um, then, you wouldn't happen to know about something called Dream Berries would you?" She asked.

Owl tilted his head "Yes, but how dear Visitor do you know about them?" He asked. "Well, my friend Balan, he told me that his cousin, NiGHTS could help me and my friends find it." The blonde girl said, when another voice made itself known above them "You know Balan?" It asked.

Emma looked up and saw, a humanoid being, much like Balan, but unlike him, this being looked more like a court jester than a theater maestro. The being then dove down to the two of them, before gracefully stopping in front of Emma, bumping Owl out of the way. "I'm NiGHTS! It's a pleasure to meet you!!" They said with the joy of a hyperactive child, gracefully bowing in front of her.

Emma's face grew a small smile at the jester. "It's a pleasure to meet you too!" She said curtseying in front of the jester. "I do know where the Dream Berries are actually! I've tried some before!" They said. Emma's face smiled even wider "Really! This is great! Me and my friends need the Berries for Lance, he has the hiccups and they're causing people's worst Nightmares to become reality, and the Berries are the only thing to cure him." She explained.

NiGHTS looked curiously at her "Your friends?" They asked. Emma's smile then suddenly began to fade "Yeah. We had all gone to sleep together, but I'm the only one here..." she said. "Well, sometimes it takes longer for other people to reach the Night Dimension, Maybe they're on their way!" NiGHTS said.

As if on cue, the rest of the group had landed at the entrance of the Plaza "EMMA!" Leo yelled, before running towards her and hugging her tightly "Thank Goodness!! You're alright!!" He said. After a moment, he realized what he was doing, and he had let her go, a small blush appearing on his face, and he looked everywhere except Emma.

Jose stepped up to her "We were worried when we couldn't find you, and it was even worse when those things attacked us." He said. Emma tensed up. "What things?" She asked

Meanwhile, Back in the Waking World...

Aria watched the group as they snoozed away to find the cure, when Lance had walked into the room, a curious look on his face "Hello there, I don't think we have met, And why are they all asleep, it isn't midnight yet." He said. "I'm Aria, Balan made me the lifeline to the inhabitants, while they went to go and find something called "Dream Berries"." She said.

Lance gave a small smile "It's nice to know that they care, but I'm a bit worried about the nightmare." He said. "What do you mean?" Aria asked. "Well, to all light, there is darkness and fear, and of which, the Nightmaren are near. I have a special job for you, a great task you see. I'm going to help them, and if anything happens, Get Balan, IMMEDIATELY. " He said.

Aria nodded before Lance grabbed the Lucid Liquid, and made 3 drops float into the air, before he stuck out his tongue, and let them fall on his tongue before retreating to his private quarters, and softly falling asleep...

Too bad he didn't know that he was the main target of the Nightmaren...

Mei belongs to @sundove88

Aria belongs to @shadowqueen402

[darknessisafriend]

Periods Commodus x Reader

Here I’m back with an imagine about our dear Emperor, @beatlebabe1996​ I dedicate this to you ;) 

You and Commodus had been married for a bit less than a month now, slowly, you had gotten used to each other’s presence, his frequent brooding and worries, but also his playfulness. Commodus was a man to discover and each day you learned more about him and fell even more in love with him; what had started as an arranged marriage had evolved into love. Even your husband, who was very suspicious over you at first and distant was learning to let down his guard, learning to know you were trustworthy. Yet, you still had a lot to learn about each other, you were discreet and shy, and he had a terrifying reputation…

You groaned in bed, burying your head under the sheets as the chamberlain came to wake you and your husband; today you really didn’t want to get up, you had a difficult night and pains in your lower belly had awaken you, you had understood your periods were coming. And as you woke up, you realized a slight wetness between your thighs, oh no…not when your husband was next to you, he would be disgusted, like many roman men were, some even considered it as a bad omen; what if Commodus reacted that badly too? Your heart started to hammer in your chest, you didn’t know how you would get out of that situation. You retained a little jump as you felt Commodus’ arm wrap around you.

“My Y/N…it’s time to rise.” He said softly and placed a feather like kiss on your temple. You closed your eyes, those soft lips gave you goosebump; but you lightly groaned, pretending not to feel very well.

“I’m…I think I’m going to stay in bed a bit more. I’m not feeling at my best…” you muttered. And you instantly felt your husband’s worry grow.

“What is it Y/N? are you feeling any pain?” he quickly asked, ready to call for a doctor.

“Commodus, please don’t worry about it. Just get up and start your day, I will surely feel better later.” You tried to convince him, you didn’t want the doctors involved and telling you to sleep separately from your husband until your periods ended, you wanted his comfort during that tough time of the month. But you knew how stubborn he was, he wouldn’t let go so easily.

“Tell me what you have. I don’t like things to be hidden from me. Especially from people I love. Don’t make me order you Y/N” He replied on a tone without appeal, he won’t leave this bed until you told him your symptoms.

“My belly hurts quite a lot…” you moaned as another cramp hit you. However, you didn’t expect Commodus to pull on the sheet to take a look and so you couldn’t prevent him from seeing the blood that had tainted your nightgown, you looked away in shame, your heart racing in fear that he would get angry.

“Oh Y/N tell me this is just your monthly bleeding…” murmured your husband, just for you to hear and avoid getting attention from anyone else. In fact, at the view of the blood, his heart had skipped a beat, fearing you had gotten severely ill.

“Yes, it is. I’m sorry, I should have known it was coming and I should have gone to my quarters.” You quickly apologized, not knowing how he would react. But he didn’t answer, instead you felt him get off the bed, perhaps in disgust he wanted to get away from you, you squinted your eyes shut, what would he do next?

“Love, here.” You jumped, startled by his voice so close to you. Slowly you opened your eyes and met his clear orbs, he looked at you softly, no hint of disgust or anger. You were speechless, you had to admit. And only after long seconds you noticed he held a piece of cloth in his hand, perhaps one of his expensive neck scarves made of silk.

“What…?” you asked confused.

“To absorb the blood for now.” He explained, not caring to dirty and taint the cloth “And I got you a clean loincloth.” He gave her a little smile, handing it to you as well and you couldn’t help but look at him as if he was crazy. “What?” he asked, curious as to why you looked at him like that.

“Well you’re not…? horrified or disgusted? Something like that?”

He chuckled, shaking his head “I have seen a lot more blood in the Colosseum.” He said jokingly, trying to relax you.  his hand going to caress your hair. “And I heard some doctors say it could be a thing that helped the woman to procreate. So, something that would give me a baby with you, an heir…it’s neither disgusting nor horrifying. It’s beautiful.” He replied more seriously. He respected you and would never treat you in such way, the only woman he could trust and have close to him.

“But all men they…” you tried to explain, to be sure of how he felt.

“I’m not like all men my dear. I am Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus, the Emperor.” He smirked proudly at you. And you couldn’t help but giggle, indeed he wasn’t, he was unique, in many ways. He sat on the edge of the bed. “Don’t be ashamed my love. I will take care of you today, only emergencies of the Empire will get my attention.” He added, and you sighed in relief, he was a very caring lover, fully dedicated. So, you got up, taking the cloth and the loincloth and going to change.

Once you were all cleaned, you sighed contently, you were in fresh, absorbent undergarments. You felt much better and knowing Commodus would be mostly by your side today greatly helped. As the day passed, Commodus spent his time with you in your shared bedroom, away from the Senate or councilors, working at his desk, dressed in his black and red toga, reading and replying to petitions from the People.

Each time he heard you groan as you cramps became more painful, he left his desk and joined you on the bed, lying down next to you, wrapping an arm around you. “Be strong my love, it will go away.” He murmured against your ear as his hand gently massaged your lower belly. His warmth and gentle caresses alone appeased your pain, or at least distracted you from them. He stayed as long as you needed, or until you dozed off, tired by those changes in your body.

You were discovering how caring Commodus was, he had this tender side that was well hidden by a protective wall around his heart, he had been betrayed so many times. But with you, he could be himself, because you made yourself vulnerable to him and he felt safe enough to be in return. Soon, your poor husband witnessed your mood swings for the first time and found you snaping at him for no reason and then you ended up on the verge of tears. But Commodus showed himself very understanding, these monthly bleedings really seemed to impact the woman deeply.

“You know, I do have mood swings too sometimes…” he said as he hugged you, soothingly caressing your back, his words making you laugh.

“That’s actually true, mister grumpy!” you giggled, burying your face in his neck, now placing soft kisses against his warm skin, making Commodus hum in pleasure.

“How about we go for a bath?” he suggested, kissing your temple.

“Hmm good idea.” You grinned, nibbling his skin, earning a small moan from the Emperor, your mood swings were quick, but he wasn’t complaining from that one, he actually enjoyed it, a lot.

You both headed for the baths, hand in hand. Commodus had especially requested the water to be warmer, he had quickly understood warmth relaxed you and soothed your pains; and indeed, he was a very good observer. As you both entered the warm waters, you sighed in contentment and a slave came to bring a plate full of nuts and dates.

“I asked our physician Galen about what you go through. He recommends you eat these. Helps with fatigue and moodiness.” Your husband explained to you as he took some to eat, you looked at him, once again amazed.

“Dear, you surprise me more each time. It’s such a sweet attention. Thank you.” You smiled happily, swimming to join him, wrapping your arms around his waist.

“Anything for you Y/N. You are my world.” He replied as if those words were naturally coming out of his mouth and with you it was. He took a date and presented it to your mouth, smiling as you eagerly ate it.

“I had never dreamt of such wonderful husband.” You murmured, tenderly kissing him, grateful to have him; your mouth traveling to his jaw. You felt him sigh contently, how much he loved feeling you so close to him, purely desiring him…his hand buried in your hair as you nibbled his earlobe.

“Oh Y/N…” he breathed, slowly starting to feel aroused, he wrapped his arm around your waist while his hand seized your chin, making you look at him in the eyes. “Kiss me.” He said softly that request was the sweetest command, as if he feared you would stop.

“Yes, my love.” You agreed softly, instantly closing the gap between the two of you. He supported you just as you supported him. An endless devotion and an always stronger love, you could fight the whole world just to be in each other’s arms.

Commodus harem: @lyoongx​ @weirdflecksbutok​ @skaravile​ @niniitah-ah @stardancerluv​ @sgtsavoytruffle​ @charlie-sisters @ohcarlesmycarles​ @rajacero @hopelessdisasterr @stellargirlie​ @rosebloodstuffandthangss​ @clowndaddyfleck​ @jaylovesbats @dreamingmaria​ @sagyunaro​ @just-a-fucking-comedy​ @spaceinvader​ @radio-hoo-ha​ @lady-carnivals-stuff​ @sierraclegane​​ @legojorny​ @lemondedeniname​​ @hvproductions​​ @syvellsworld​​ @papercut-paranoia​​ @jokerflecker​​ @beautifulyoungprospect​​ @bring-your-holy-water @five-miles-over​ @yukis-writing​ @morrisonmercurryphoenix @fly-like-a-phoenix​

[anachronisticcrab]

Percy Being Good To Nico

I love Percy and Nico friendship, but in canon, Percy was such an ass to Nico. So here are some ideas of how that could have been changed in a canon divergent fic

After the Battle of the Labyrinth, when Nico was trying to leave CHB and Percy stopped him, Percy gave Nico his phone number and home address in case of emergency (that’s how he knew where Percy lived)

After Percy’s birthday party that Nico crashed, Sally started getting Nico to come for dinner once a month, which caused Nico and Percy to become a lot closer

This seriously cut back on Percy’s stress because he wasn’t constantly worrying about Nico (like where he was, if he was okay, how many monsters was he fighting now, how much is he eating, where is he sleeping, when was the last time he actually performed any sort of self care, etc)

Pretty quickly once a month dinners became once a week dinners, which usually ended in Nico staying overnight

When Sally and Paul got married, they moved into Paul’s apartment, and Sally gave Nico the address. When he showed up the first Friday for dinner, he almost cried of joy (they had added an extra bed in Percy’s room for Nico to stay in)

Percy throws Nico a surprise party for his birthday every year, and Nico tried baking Percy a cake for his birthday one year. Suffice to say, it didn’t end well, but Percy still ate it with a smile on his face because his little brother made it for him

After that though, Percy and Nico agreed that Percy and Sally would stick to the baking, and Nico could stick to making meals

They had a two hour conversation after the Battle of Manhattan to talk about the Styx thing. It ended with a tearful apology from Nico, and a tearful hug from Percy. Now the two of them have a conversation twice a month about their feelings and bullshit that’s happened

Percy making Nico watch an endless stream of Disney movies (Finding Nemo, Moana, The Little Mermaid, basically anything that goes along with the sea)

When Percy finds out about Nico’s love of pirates, he gets Nico to watch all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies with him

Percy feeds Nico bullshit facts about the modern century (ie. the Soviet Union renamed themselves the Cotton Candy Brigade and then disbanded, but citizens of former soviet countries are still called Munchkins)

Nico feeds Percy bullshit facts about both the 30’s and Italy (ie. Italy is known to its citizens as the Peninsula of Cazzo, and that they didn’t have cutlery or plates in the 30’s)

Sometime between botl and tlo, Nico’s feelings for Percy morphed from romantic to brotherly

When Nico had to lie to Percy about who he was in SoN, it was the hardest thing he ever had to do. Percy knew that he knew Nico, and it crushed Nico that Percy couldn’t remember him, and that he couldn’t tell Percy anything. He hadn’t seen his big brother in almost a year, and now Percy didn’t remember him, and he couldn’t remind him

When they saw each other again on the Argo 2 before Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, you cannot convince me that Percy didn’t give Nico a hug

Nico genuinely didn’t have a crush on Percy by HoO, he thought of Percy as a brother. He was still really ashamed of being gay, and he loved Percy (just in a very different way). That’s why Jason wasn’t sure if Nico still liked Percy or not after the Cupid thing. He could tell that Nico was ashamed and loved Percy, but he didn’t know that Nico just loved Percy in a different way

Nico got super ticked off at Percy when he said ‘are you sure you can do this’ to the shadow travel thing at the end of HoH mostly because Percy has a bad habit of treating Nico like he’s still that ten year old geek from Westover Hall

Like really. Everyone else around Nico sees a terrifying teenager who’s summoned army’s of the undead and destroys his enemies in ten seconds flat, but Percy just sees a kid with big eyes infodumping about his favourite card game wearing armour that’s three sizes too big telling him that he’s scared

It pisses Nico off because he’s not a little kid anymore, Percy! he can take care of himself! he isn’t gonna break the second he goes to fight!

Also, by extension, Nico and Tyson are siblings and Hazel and Percy are siblings (which adds Frank into their family, cause he’s Nico’s age and dating Hazel). So when Reyna, Nico, and Hedge were caught by Leah and Dakota on the boat, Nico was super excited to see his little brother again. He wasn’t even that upset when Tyson pulled him into a hug (even though he hates hugs)

When they see each other again at CHB after the Battle, they give each other a big hug. Percy tells Nico’s that he was so worried he’d never see his baby brother again, and Nico proceeds to make fun of Percy for waking up Gaia with a nosebleed

Also, after Reyna and Nico’s hug, Percy pulls Nico aside and is like ‘what’s the deal with you and Reyna’ and Nico’s like ‘she’s my sister now’ and Percy goes ‘oh, okay, cool. bring her around for family dinner next weekend’

Same with Jason, Rachel, and Meg, too. Percy’s always down for more adoptive family being around

After Nico came out to Percy and Annabeth, and told Percy that he’s gay, Percy went to the infirmary to talk to Nico. He wasn’t allowed in at first, but he waited outside for three hours so he could speak with Nico

Of course, this led to a three hour discussion, which involved a lot of apologies from both of them, and a lot of shared stories, and laughs, and a few tears. Percy told Nico he shouldn’t be ashamed of who he is, and he should’ve told Percy sooner

When Percy went home for the school year, and to see his parents again, Nico joined him. There were lots of tears, hugging and blue cookies. Then Sally grounded them both for staying away for so long and worrying the hell out of her and Paul

When Percy sees Nico and Will interact, he makes it his goal to make them a couple. He and Jason spend hours plotting ways to get them together

Whenever Nico’s away from home for any amount of time, Percy gives Nico a big hug, ruffles his hair, and complains that he stayed away

When Nico first moves to New Rome for university, Will’s living in Massachusetts for Harvard Med School, so he moves in with Jason and Percy for a few years while he gets a degree in linguistics and anthropology

Btw, Annabeth thought Percy would distract her when she was trying to study, so she moved in with Piper and Reyna, and Percy moved in with Jason. It should’ve only taken her 4 years to get her masters in architecture, but the university offers a bunch of history, math, and design classes that she took because they were really interesting (it ended up taking her 6 years)

That’s all for now. I might make another post about this cause I live for Percy and Nico friendship. Btw,, DO NOT tag as P*rcico. This is purely familial and platonic headcanons

[yikesharringrove]

Show Pony

Chapter 2: Legends Never Die

Read on Ao3

-

Billy was watching porn when Steve texted.

He’s never clicked out of a video so fucking fast in his life.

The message just read hey, this is steve :) which like, of course, the fucker uses little emoticons. Of course , he types out little smiley faces. It’s so dumb. It’s so cute.

And Billy just stared at it. One hand still on his dick, the other hovering over the keyboard.

What the fuck does he reply?

Obviously, Steve knows it’s Billy. Like. Duh.

So he just tapped out a little Hey.

Steve texted back almost immediately.

you have a good day? Billy found himself grinning maniacally, so he rolled over to hold his pillow close to his chest, burying his chin into it. He didn’t wanna deal with the fact that this stupid adorable cowboy was making him smile and flush. Stupid.

Yeah, it was nice. Way too hot, but nice.

lol try wearing jeans in that heat. sweatin through my damn saddle. Billy laughed into his pillow.

Jesus, you’re such a fuckin hick. Billy bit his tongue when he pressed send.

And Steve just sent back >:(. And God. He’s so cute. Billy. Hates him.

And then Billy’s phone buzzed twice, another brand new text from Steve.

One that made Billy’s heart fucking stop.

i have the day off tomorrow. no tiedown on the schedule. you should come by and we could hang

Which sounded like. A date. It sounded like a fucking date. And Billy wanted to ask. If Steve’s invitation was for a goddamn date.

But like, he can’t just ask. Can he? Is that weird? Okay, maybe he’ll just-

Should I bring Max?

Right? Like if Steve says to bring his little sister, then there’s no way it’s a date. Because, who would want their date to bring their little sister? People who are just hanging out as friends, that’s who.

was hoping it'd just be you and me

And hoo boy. Hoo boy. That’s. That’s a fucking. That’s a date.

Then yeah. Just you and me.

And Steve sent him another little :) because the fucker loves his emoticon smiley faces. They’re not even, like, actual emojis. Steve doesn’t take the time to use fucking apostrophes, but he does type out little faces.

And maybe Billy’s spending too much time thinking about the smiley little shits.

But, like. It’s just. It’s Steve. And it’s a cute fucking thing that Steve does.

Billy’s pretty much obsessed with him by now.

And maybe Billy should ask for, like, a time to meet. But he was halfway through a video and his cock’s still hard and kinda starting to ache, pressed against the mattress where it was. He rolled over, slid his hand back into his shorts, and wrapped his fingers around the base of himself.

So it’s easy just to, slide it up. Run his fingers along his length. Pretend his rough hand is Steve’s rough hand. Pretend the tight vice grip is Steve’s mouth. Hot and slick around him.

He could picture Steve, on his knees in the dirt, those tight fucking jeans beginning to stain at the knees, those big pretty eyes looking at him so reverently, so softly.

And he came all over his hand, pictured those pink pretty lips covered with cum. Imagined scooping it on his fingers, pressing them into Steve’s mouth, making him lick them clean.

It wasn’t even the most depraved fantasy Billy’s ever had. But it was for sure in his top five best orgasms. No doubt about it.

He wiped his hand on the sheets, turning onto his side, staring at the short little conversation with Steve.

Thinking about their fucking date tomorrow.

Max was on his ass the second he woke up.

She cornered him as he was coming out of the bathroom, making him startle and nearly smack her.

“The fuck you doing out here, Shitbrid?”

“What are we doing today?”

“ We aren’t doing shit all. I will be heading out. Soon.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, jutting her jaw in a way he absolutely knows she learned from him.

“Are you going to the rodeo?” she hissed through her teeth at him. “Are you going to see-”

“That’s none ‘a your fuckin’ business.” He pushed past her, lumbering down the hall, almost making it into his bedroom before she slipped inside with him, slapping his elbow and kicking the door closed.

“Are you going on a date ?”

Billy glared at her. He clenched his jaw, speaking through gritted teeth.

“Pretty sure we agreed not to fucking talk about this shit here.”

She pursed her lips, shifting her jaw.

“Just nod or shake your head.”

Billy kept his head very still.

She kicked him once in the shin before stomping out of his room, nearly slamming the door, catching it at the last minute, and closing it quietly.

Neil didn’t approve of doors slamming in his house.

It was rule number. Three probably. First rule was don’t be a smartass. Second rule was don’t be Billy. That was kind of an unspoken rule. But it was there.

And Billy was faced with his newest dilemma.

What does he wear?

Because it’s gonna be another hot fucking day, and his typical date outfits have more, more.

He’s got one clean pair of cut-offs left. Okay. Yes. And he puts on a printed button-up shirt. Leaves it almost all the way unbuttoned, because, like, of course, he does. He’s got a good body. He wants Steve to see it.

He’ll be mostly cool, and he looks better than he did last time he saw Steve.

Black Converse complete the look, and he maybe spends more time than he usually would putting his hair into a ponytail, using one of Max’s bright scrunchies.

She’ll get pissed if she notices it but. Whatever. He steals them from her all the fucking time.

He hasn’t looked at his phone all morning, figured he could head over to the rodeo, and whenever Steve texted, he’d play it cool and act like he wasn’t already there.

But, cowboy hick Steve was obviously an early riser. As the most recent text Billy has is from that cowboy hick Steve. At six. In the morning.

you wanna meet up around ten?

It was currently just past nine.

Does Billy head up there now and wander around the grounds for a bit?

Yes. Yes, he does. Because frankly, he looks gay as fuck in this outfit and he should probably dip before his dad sees.

He sends Steve a thumbs up and the three dots show up almost immediately, showing Steve typing.

you got a car right? can you pick me up outside of the parking lot? i gotta get outta here

And Fuck. Billy knows that feeling.

No problem. You wanna get breakfast? I know a good diner if you’re into that kinda thing.

hell yeah im into that :)

Ah, yes. There was that little happy face just in time to give Billy lots of nice heart palpitations.

Great. That’s what he needs. To get sappy and gross over Steve’s emoticons. Again.

He slipped out of his house without interference, taking a lap around the block just to kill time before setting off to the fairgrounds.

He was trying to make his car look presentable, shoving the few gum wrappers Max left by the gear shift into his pocket, brushing off any stray cigarette ash with one of the baby wipes in the glove box.

And by the time he reached the fairgrounds, he saw Steve skulking along the front of the parking lot, hopping over cracks in the sidewalk like the cutest little bunny.

It was the most adorable thing in the fucking world.

Billy pulled up next to him, blaring the horn and watching Steve startle at the sound.

He was wearing cut-off denim shorts like Billy’s, and a goddamn crop top. It had the silhouette of a horse on its hind legs, its mane flowing in the wind behind it, and Harrington American Rodeo brandished across his chest. It was cut just at his waistline, where his body nipped in right above his hips.

Steve smiled his pretty smile at Billy, just about skipping around the front of the car to slide into the passenger seat.

And Billy tried not to think about how fucking good Steve looked in the passenger seat of his car, those long fucking legs all on display, his thighs, thick and pale, covered in dark hair.

“Hi,” Steve was leaning with one elbow on the center console, putting himself in Billy’s space, and Billy was thankful for his dark aviator sunglasses, as his eyes went wide and probably panicked with Steve moving in so close.

Because if Steve was leaning in to kiss him, that kinda feels like a lot. And Billy’s not a prude, not by any means but he's, he’s got lines, and rules, and-

Steve just knocked his head into Billy’s shoulder, leaning back to buckle his seatbelt, like headbutting Billy’s shoulder was casual and normal.

And fuck.

Billy’s in so deep for this guy he barely fucking knows.

All he could do was push the car forward, and will away the flush on his cheeks. And pretend like he hadn’t jerked off to the person sitting next to him less than twelve hours ago.

“So. Billy. Tell me about yourself.” Steve shifted in his seat, turning to look right at Billy. “All I know is that you’ve got a kid sister, a cool car, and that you’re really hot.”

Billy smirked, turning to look at Steve over his glasses, found Steve biting his bottom lip demurely.

“Well, there’s not much else to know .”

“Oh, come on. Where are you from? How old are you? Shit, probably shoulda asked that sooner. Please, tell me you’re not fifteen or something.”

“I’m literally driving, right now. And relax, Pretty Boy. I’m eighteen next month.”

“Okay. Okay, good. I’m eighteen, by the way. Just so you know, that I’m not fifteen.” Billy shook his head, rolling his eyes with a smile. “But I still want answers to the other questions.”

“Well, I’m from here. Born and raised in San Diego. Uh, I graduated high school in May. And I work at the diner I’m about to take you to, which might be the lamest shit in the world, but they have good pancakes.”

“I like pancakes.” Steve was fiddling with some of the knobs in the car, turning the air conditioner up and down. Billy was just resisting slapping his hand away.

And then he reached for the volume knob on the radio, turning up the Ratt Billy had playing, and audibly scoffed.

“God, I should’ve known you liked this .”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“Just, you know. Sex charged drug-fueled hair metal.”

“Oh my God. What in the fuck ?” He gave Steve as incredulous a look as he could muster. “Are you a housewife from the fifties?”

Steve gave one of his excellent bright laughs at Billy, and Billy’s gut got a little bit gay and a little bit fluttery.

“Alright, Stevie. I’ll bite. What kinda music are you into? And if you say country I’m blowing my fuckin’ brains out.”

“Well, unfortunate then because, yeah. Fuckin’ country, man. Although, I prefer folk.”

“See, you call my music sex-charged and drug-fueled, at least I’m not listening to posers rant about their tractors.”

“Oh, no. I hate that shit as much as you do. I mean like, Johnny Cash. Willie Nelson, you know? Emmylou Harris, Marty Robbins, Miss Dolly. The good stuff. There’s like, a few modern artists that are doing the same kinda thing that I like. It’s all just stories and good music.”

“That’s all my music is. Stories set to music. And, you say my shit is drug-fueled, you do know that Willie Nelson is famous for being a stoner? And that Johnny Cash publicly dealt with addiction and all that?”

“Well, yeah, but they’ve got class.”

“Okay, Cowboy. I’ll let you die on that fuckin’ hill while I party it up on mine to some eighties metal.”

And Steve reached out to shove Billy lightly, laughing while he did it.

“Agree to fucking disagree then. Just take me to pancakes and don’t try to reason with me about shitty music.”

“Then change the subject. Tell me other things about you besides your terrible music taste.”

Steve leaned back in his seat, blowing out a puff of air.

“Uh, I mean. Jeez. I don’t do much besides the rodeo, you know? Just movin’ all over the country.”

“That must be. Exhausting.”

Steve reached out to brush his fingers against the dashboard mindlessly.

“It’s not so bad. I try to make friends in the towns, you know? Makes it kinda fun.”

“Where were you born?”

“Indiana. Really small town. My mom and I stayed there for three years while my father traveled around. I’ve been on the road since.”

“Holy shit. Since you were three? Did you, like, go to school?”

“No. Uh, I actually have a tutor that’s on the road with us, and I’m. You know. Supposed to get my high school diploma soon. I’m behind schedule since,” he waved his hand flippantly. He was staring at his lap, playing with the frayed hem of his shorts. And Billy was grasping for another subject as Steve’s cheeks went red. Because obviously school, had struck a nerve.

“What kinda horse is June?”

“She’s an American quarter horse. That’s the usual type for most rodeo events. They’re good ranch horses because they’re a little more compact. I’ve been with June for five years now, and she’s a beast. I’ve got two others with me, on rotation so that none of them get too tired doing the shows over and over. June, Patsy, and Loretta. They’re all quarter horses, and each one is only about fourteen and a half hands tall. I like my horses a bit smaller for tie-down.”

“I understood, honestly, like, nothing of what you just said.”

Steve tossed his head back, laughing loudly over the radio at Billy’s confusion.

He laughed a lot.

Billy liked it.

“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you rodeo slang. You’ll be a natural,” Steve said, reaching out to where Billy’s right hand was resting on the gearshift, wrapping his finger’s around Billy’s wrist.

“What about their names?”

“All ladies of country. Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, and June Carter. Carter-Cash, I guess. She married Johnny but had a career in her own right.”

“Jesus, you’re a fuckin’ hick.”

“You’ve said that before. Just because I’m in the rodeo-”

“No, it’s because you’re in the rodeo, and listen to country music, and wear fucking cowboy boots -”

“They are literally made for riding horses, okay? That’s why they were invented .”

Billy rolled his eyes again, but he was smiling brightly as he pulled into the diner parking lot.

It wasn’t too busy for a Sunday morning. Billy bets it’ll pick up in an hour or so for the brunch crowd.

He began working at the diner three years ago, bussing tables and washing dishes, getting paid under the table because technically, he was too young to work. He was a server now, usually taking the evening dinner shifts to miss that time when his dad was home from work.

The bell jingled above their heads as Billy held the door open for Steve, and Billy stuck his tongue out at the kitchen staff, leaning over the counter to swipe a few menus from the stack.

He led Steve to a booth in the back corner, waving at Lorraine, the older woman who was working their section, gesturing to the booth for Steve to take a seat.

“Wow. You’ve totally got this place on lock.”

Billy grinned at him, leaning against the wall to stretch his legs up on the booth next to him.

“I’ve worked here a few years. Kinda done all the staff positions. It’s a nice place.”

“Well, then what do you recommend?” Steve carefully opened the laminated menu, his big eyes flicking over the pictures on the side of every dish.

“Pancakes are good, so are the waffles though, if you’re into that. I like the full breakfast. Eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns, pancakes, or toast. Kinda the best of everything.”

Steve snapped his menu shut, smiling softly at Billy.

“I’m trusting you with my breakfast here. It better be good .”

Lorraine approached their table, already pouring Billy a cup of coffee and sliding it to him along the table.

“You really love us that much you find your way in here on your day off?”

“Only you, Lorraine. Everybody else can fuck off for all I care.”

She shook her head, rolling her eyes at Billy.

“You want the usual cook-up?”

“Yes, please.”

She took his unopened menu, turning and smiling brightly at Steve.

“What can I get for you, Darling.”

Steve’s eyes were wide when he looked up at her, his cheeks starting to flush.

“Uh, just, the same as Billy, please.”

“You want a coffee?”

“No, Ma’am. Just a water for me please.” He handed his menu back, giving her a bright smile, his cheeks a soft rosy red.

Lorraine winked at Billy, nodding her head once in Steve’s general direction. Billy waved her off before she could say something embarrassing.

“Sorry, I get kinda weird sometimes.” Steve had pulled a napkin out of the dispenser on their table and was looking down at it, tearing off little chunks and rolling them into balls.

“That’s okay. Lorraine gets it. Plus, you were polite, and that’s all that matters. I wouldn’t be caught dead with you if you were an ass to servers.”

“Oh, God. My dad is such an ass when it comes to, really any staff. Like, servers, or, frankly, most of the people that work for him. Don’t even get me started on the animal carers. I mean, that’s probably the most important job at the whole rodeo, and he’s been trying to dock pay left, right, and fucking center.” Steve rolled his big eyes, huffing like Max.

“Wait, so your dad is like, the head of the whole operation?”

“My name is Steve Harrington,” and Steve pointed at his shirt, the name Harrington emblazoned over the horse.

“Oh damn. I thought that name was familiar when I saw the shirt. Figured I had just seen the rodeo name or something.”

“Nope. That’s me. A whole Harrington. My great-grandpa started the rodeo. He was, like, an actual ranch hand. Started one in the town we’re from. My grandpa was the one who got the idea to take it on the road. My dad came up through it like I did. He was in steer roping. And basically, his end goal is that I start running the whole show in a few years. Take over for him.”

“And, you don’t want to?”

“Nah. I don’t really have a brain for business. Don’t have a brain for much other than riding and tie-down, honestly. Don’t know the first thing about how to run a traveling rodeo.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

Steve smiled at him, but his eyes seemed sad, and his smile was tight.

“You got plans for next year? College or anything?”

“Nah. I think college is, on the horizon, but I’m taking a gap year. Saving up to move out and pay for school and everything. Probably gonna go to community college to save some money. And then maybe grad school?”

“That’s smart, you know? Finding ways to save up. My dad is debating pushing college on me. Like, if I do run the business, there’s some shit I should know going into it, right? But I think he also sees that I’m way too dumb for college, and, like, I don’t need a degree to get hired. I’ll just,” Steve made an upwards sweeping gesture with his right hand. A gesture that Billy understood to vaguely mean nepotism.

“What would you rather do? If not run the thing.”

“I like tie-down, and I could feasibly do it for a long time. I could branch into other events, too, like steer roping and all that. Same idea as calf roping but a different animal. Literally. It’s a steer. But I’d be content just doing the events until I croak. I have absolutely no desire to rise through the ranks, or whatever.” Steve rolled his eyes, balling up the little napkin wads he had made into another napkin from the dispenser. Billy appreciated it. He’s had to clean up crap like that from this very floor. “I just love being around the rodeo. The animals and all the people. I don’t really wanna be anywhere else.”

“At least you have something you love. Like, you’d be happy to do that for the rest of your life, and not in an I’ve got nothing better to do way, but in an, I’m passionate about this way. A lot of people don’t really. Get that.” Billy included.

It’s not that he doesn’t have passions, it’s just that they’re not necessarily sustainable to him.

He knows he’s dangling by a thread with his father. Knows after his eighteenth birthday, he should be ready to be kicked out or asked to pay rent at any time. He needs a career that’ll get him some fucking money if he wants to get out and cut off his dad entirely. He can’t be forced to go crawling back to him because he wanted to self-publish his gay ass poetry that never took off or drum in a rock band that went nowhere.

To name a few.

“Yeah, I mean. Sometimes I think that I probably would’ve never set foot in a rodeo if I wasn’t literally born into one, so I kinda wonder who I’d be if this wasn’t everything I knew, but I still really love doing it, and it’s something that I’m actually good at, which speaks volumes.”

They were interrupted by Lorraine returning, placing two identical plates in front of them, a glass of water for Steve, and pulling hot sauce and ketchup out of her apron pocket.

“You two let me know if you need anything else.”

Steve beamed at her, thanking her softly and Billy’s heart fluttered like a stupid idiot.

They tucked in, Steve shoving food into his mouth until his cheeks were bulging, chewing aggressively. It made Billy laugh and nearly spew coffee all over the table.

“I figured you’d have better manners, being the heir to a rodeo dynasty or whatever.”

Steve pulled a face, showing Billy the chewed-up food in his mouth.

“How’s that for manners?”

It was actually fucking funny watching him try to swallow everything stuffed in his mouth.

“It’s borderline painful watching you eat.”

Billy laughed as Steve flicked a piece of scrambled egg at him. It landed on his shoulder. Billy slurped it right off his shirt.

“See! Now, who's the one with no table manners?”

“Still you, Sugar. Still you.”

Breakfast was, like, actually fun.

Not that Billy was expecting it to be shitty, but he wasn’t expecting it to be as carefree, as easy, as it was. He and Steve just, kinda, clicked.

Steve was easy to talk to. He was easy to listen to, easy to laugh with, and even easier to look at.

He’s kinda, everything Billy has ever wanted in a person.

He slid his hand into Billy’s as they were leaving the diner, smiling shyly at Billy when he looked over at him.

And Billy stopped in his tracks, right there in broad daylight, tugging Steve by his hand closer to Billy’s body, sliding his hands up his arms, feeling over Steve’s shoulders, and down his back to settle on his hips. Steve wrapped both arms around Billy’s shoulders, leaning closer to him, almost pressing his whole body against Billy’s.

And it was easy. Kissing Steve was just as easy as talking to him, as laughing with him, as looking at him. It was simple and nice and made Billy feel something he really didn’t want to put too much thought into.

Something that was decidedly not easy.

They pulled away from one another, both their lips red and slick.

Billy opened the passenger door, and Steve folded himself into the seat with a ridiculous amount of grace.

And as Billy drove them aimlessly through the city, he tried not to think of the expiration date on this whole thing, on the dates listed on the back of Steve’s t-shirt.

They’ve got a little under a month together.

And Billy was determined to make that the best goddamn month of both of their natural lives.

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 312 Spoiler Analysis: Hero Turned Assassin

It’s Friday, my dudes!  That means the leaks for the new chapter is out!  This time, we’re focusing on our new lady assassin villain who we ended with last week.  Ngl, I love her design and concept.  I actually wouldn’t mind if she stepped on me 😳  All that aside, this was a damn good chapter, but I really hope Deku’s going to be ok taking her on by himself:

Alright, the chapter starts off with a little flashback of Hawks talking to Deku as Deku is suiting up to leave Central hospital.  Hawks reassures Deku that he should be ok from AFO and Shigaraki for now since they aren’t at full power yet.  Their best option would be to take Deku in alive rather than dead.  Hawks can only think of one person who might be capable of capturing Deku: the assassin woman.  Turns out, that woman was his senpai back at the Hero Safety Commision and she’s dangerous.

So, as far as we know, Deku’s most likely going to live several more days even if he does get captured.  However, he’s being hunted down by a highly skilled assassin who was also Hawk’s senpai back in the day.  The fact that Hawks of all people is warning Deku to run away from her if he can say something about her skills.  I can only guess how good her skills are, but I’d say they’re probably somewhere in the S-tier range if Hawks is afraid of her.

The next couple of pages help properly introduce our new villain: Lady Nagant!  A few points here: 1. The bullet is made from her hair which is colored dark blue and pink.  I personally love those two colors, so I’m glad to see that color scheme used on her.  Also hair bullets is such a great concept, 2. That rifle is definitely coming from her elbow which she can bring out and retract at will, which is badass as hell, 3. I looked up the word “Nagant” and it’s actually type of (Russian?) gun that ranges from a 7-shot revolver to a sniper rifle, so that’s a good Villain name for her, 4. She was a former hero under the Safety Commision who decided to go to the dark side for some reason.  Like, did she see the bad side of Hero Society and that caused her to change?  Did she see something in Villainy that caused her to change her POV?  I want to know what?, 5. Again, love her design like hoo boy, Horikoshi snapped with her. 

So, Deku’s on the run from her and he is completely on his own now that his phone is broken.  He doesn’t even know what happened to All Might 😭!  He’s also afraid that All Might and Hawks will be targeted by her.  Deku’s debating wheaher he should run or face Nagant face on.  With someone like Muscular, I wasn’t worried about Deku because he’s not only improved a lot since last time, but he’s taken on Muscular before so he knew what he was fighting.  But, this is a brand-new villain.  Not much is known about her and Deku has never fought her before.  I’d say run, but someone has to take her out.  Maybe Hawks will swoop in and have a reunion with his senpai.  Though, he doesn’t have wings now, so I’m not sure what he can really do against her besides have a chat…

And Deku is shot!  Not fatally thank god, but he did get hit.  Turns out Lady Nagant can actually curve her shots.  Even Deku’s Danger Sense couldn’t detect it in time good lord.  So she can just straight up made bullets that can curve too that is absolutely insane.  Any marksman would be jealous of her.  

Fun Fact of the Day: Based on Horikoshi-sensei’s comment of the week, Lady Nagant and her curve bullet are actually based off the 2008 film Wanted staring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie (he even thanked Ms. Jolie!)!  I decided to IMDB the film to see if I remembered it and it turns out that I have actually seen a little of it before.  You know that gif of McAvoy smacking Chris Pratt’s face with a keyboard and the loose keys spell out “Fuck You”?  Yeah, that’s from Wanted.  Also, the curved bullet Horikoshi is talking about is when Jolie manages to “curve” a bullet enough to kill a group of assassins who were standing in a circle.  Look, I don’t know if physics can actually make that work in real life, but I’ll be damned if that doesn’t sound badass.

Back to the story, we have a bit of flashback to an old TV special that interviewed 100 active Noteworthy Heroes.  The 25th Pro Hero being interview is none other than Snipe, one of UA’s teachers!  It’s been a hot couple of years since we’ve seen him around.  Actually, we don’t even know if he’s alive…  Let’s assume he is and continue with the story.

Anyway, Snipe was having some good friendly competition in the Long-Range sniping with Lady Nagant back in the day.  He explains while his Quirk, “Homing” allows him to lock-on to anyone within a 600 Meter range, he can’t choose where his attack hits and the hit isn’t that powerful (Shigaraki could’ve actually gotten killed back in the USJ if Snipe wasn’t careful enough damn).  Lady Nagant, on the other hand, has a range of 3 Kilometers with insane accuracy.  I did some quick calculations and it turns out that 3KM = 3,000M!  That’s 5 times farther than what Snipe can do.  That is absolutely nuts!

Lady Nagant’s Quirk is called “Rifle”!  Turns out that the secret lies in her bullets made out of hair.  When she mixes her duel colored hair, it works like epoxy putty.  Epoxy putty is a substance that hardens over time.  It’s normally used as a seal for cracks and holes, and it’s both highly-resistant and unshrinkable when hardened.  So, when Lady Nagant pulls strands out of her hair to mix and mould them, she can harden that hair into a bullet which explains the dark blue and pink fibers in the speaker bullet she fired at Deku’s phone.  Apparently, she can make any kind of bullet she wants ranging from hollow bullets to curved bullets.  She can then load and fire those bullets from her rifle into her right arm.  God, there’s so much potential for a Quirk like this.  The only limit I can think of for this Quirk is if she runs out of hair for bullets similar to how if Ibara Shiozaki from Class 1-B (or 2-B now I guess) would run out of hair to use her Vines.  I wonder if Lady Nagant using her hair so much is the reason why it’s shorter now than when she was a hero.

I gotta say, I think this is one of the coolest and unique Quirks Horikoshi has come up with in a while.  It’s just so unique and imaginative!  I don’t think I could ever come up with an idea like this.  I like that her Quirk is almost like a 2-in-1 thing: the putty hair and the rifle in her arm.  They’re both different functions that work in tandem together.  I also love Nagant hero outfit!  She was rocking the long ponytail work, had a visor and antenna on her right eye for accuracy, and a belt holding her hair bullets.  She’s also freakin’ stacked as hell, but I’ll let this one slide because her design is so freaking great.  

Back to the present, Deku managed to catch the bullet, but his left gauntlet has been damaged.  So, it looks like Deku won’t be punching with his left arm unless All Might has some backup Mid-Gauntlets.  Thankfully he’s found out where Lady Nagant is based on where she shot from just twice.  She’s only about 1KM away and Deku wants to get in closer.  God, Deku is so freaking smart.  I want to know his IQ because it must be insanely high for him to figure out where a trained sniper would be after just 2 bullets.  Nagant also says that Deku’s the first one to deflect 2 of her bullets, so yeah, goddamn Deku!

Now we’re finally getting a look at Overhaul (I’m cool with calling him by his villain name instead of his real name for now btw).  Dude’s broken.  Just completely mentally broken.  I don’t think he even notices Deku.  All he can think about is how he wants to go back to his adoptive father, Eri’s grandfather, the man Overhaul put in a coma.  I thought that Overhaul would be confronting Deku himself, but it looks like he can’t.  Maybe him not being able to get his father out of his coma traumatized him real bad with a lot of guilt.  He probably wants to go back to try to heal his dad.  If he can do that, again, I wonder how now that his Quirk probably functions somewhere else besides his hands.

Anyway, Lady Nagant is kind of protecting Overhaul for now.  She most likely has a plan for him later since she mentions helping Overhaul as soon as she’s done with Deku.  Overhaul would be a useful ally since his Quirk can literally destroy and restore matter both living and non-living.  There’s also that glowing effect on her arm again.  If it’s not a taser like I thought before, then maybe it’s some kind of strength enhancer her Quirk gives her.  That arm gun has to be heavy.  IDK it’s not really explained.  

Flashing back to the Tartarus Prision Break, AFO and his ugly mug are talking to Nagant, calling her the “Traitor Hero” and how it’s an honor to meet her.  Again, Lady Nagant’s skills must be incredibly high enough to be recognize by AFO.  Also, her turning her back on Hero Society must’ve been a big story at the time.

AFO tells Lady Nagant of his plan to capture Deku as he predicted this earlier.  So, either AFO is stupidly good at predicting things or he has a future-sight Quirk like Nighteye had.  I want to say it’s the latter since AFO probably did pick up a Quirk like that sometime in the past.

Lady Nagant originally refused to listen to AFO in a very sassy way LOL!  But, AFO seems to have made a deal with her.  He even mentions that Nagant killed many of her fellow heroes to cause the fall of Pro-Hero Society.  Yeah, killing your fellow colleagues will definitely get you sent straight to Tartarus…  I REALLY need to know what made her turn to the Dark Side Anakin Skywalker style.

Also, personal theory that I highly doubt is true, but I wonder if Lady Nagant is the real “UA Traitor” not any of the students.  If she can make bullets that she can remotely talk through, then she could probably make bullets that can eavesdrop on people.  Maybe she listened in on UA and told the LoV about the training camp.  Or she was locked in Tartarus before then and I’m just projecting my hopes/fears onto her.  That could be it too.

Actually, I just realized that she could probably wrap objects around her bullets and fire them.  So, she probably wrapped a speaker around her hair and that’s how she remotely spoke to Deku.  Eh, she could still wrap some listening device around her hair and eavesdrop that way.  I’m just Pepe Silvia’ing the possibilities of Rifle at this point.

AFO uses Overhaul as an example of someone who became a victim of Pro-Heroes.  This give him enough leverage to make a deal with Lady Nagant.  So, as part of the contract, AFO granted her his Air Walk Quirk!  On paper, a passive Quirk like Air Walk doesn’t seem very useful.  But, this series has proved to us time and time again that passive/support Quirks can be just as/if not more amazing than raw-powered Quirks.  So, a Quirk like Air Walk can get Lady Nagant to so many places for her to fire her bullets.  It’s an incredibly useful Quirk for a sniper.  I do wonder what the limits of it are (because all Quirks have some sort of limitation), but I guess we’ll find that out later.  I really do wonder how Deku’s going to handle Lady Nagant and Overhaul though.  That’s going to be interesting.

Oh boy, that the chapter!  Solid chapter per usual.  Gah, my fingers hurt after typing so much.  I’m glad we got to know more about Lady Nagant!  She was a mystery for weeks, but we finally got some backstory on her.  So, some answers, but a lot of questions are left behind.  I’m actually glad we’re still sticking with Deku so far.  I still want to see Bakugo and Shoto, but we also haven’t gotten a purely Deku-centric arc for a while, so this is good.  Horikoshi truly doesn’t miss!  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be screaming about the next anime episode and Shoto Todoroki sakuga for the next week I will not apologize.         

Me @ Horikoshi every chapter:

Also, this is the Wanted scene I was talking about before:

[fe-husband-heaven]

Thanks to popular demand ;) Part two is here!!

Ehuehuehue of course, with the quote I think lands them on the list!

Part 2! Of Heroes I think have a thing for the Summoner:

Henry:

"You won't die, will you, Summoner? If you died, I'd have to invent a horrible new hex for whoever killed you. So just...stay alive, OK?"

Henry is genuinely sweet. So long as you're not on the wrong side;; He gets attached if you're kind to him so he's at your every beck and call rather quickly, even if you say he doesn't have to do your chores, he insists on it.

ZHDBDDH he's extremely protective, not in an overbearing fashion but more that anything that messes with you, messes with him. He's learned to keep his face in an eternal smile but he prefers to see that yours are real :')) Sweet boy

Henry and The Summoner end up just being known as that duo. As in Do Not Separate. (Mostly because leaving Henry alone to his own devices is asking for trouble) but also, Henry just likes having you with him during his shenanigans nyaha

Raven:

"Glad to fight for you. Long as it doesn't get in the way of...well, never mind." "Need me? Just say so."

"But now, none of that matters. I've come to my senses after watching you at work here. Does any of that make sense? If not, forget I said anything. I'll still fight hard for you."

Veterans of this blog...yall know know. This man is the start of it all djxjdj

Homeboy gave up his revenge, choosing instead to fight for you rather than a past that's haunted him.

Raven's a bit of a bodyguard, with his resting angry face, he scares off anyone who might approach you whenever you're with him. And he can be quite impulsive so if he thinks someone's upset you, he's out to pick a fight.

Hnnnnghgh my boy💖💕💖

Ephraim:

"I will fight. To bring peace to this world, and for your sake, too." || "You know, I like you. And I feel I can trust you completely."

"I will protect you. Just believe in me and follow my lead." || "I'll protect you. I don't want to lose anyone else."

"I'm thankful that the two us can spend this winter festival together. It means a lot to me."

Ephraim💙💙💙hnnnnngh, I love him so much!! And he's constantly going and on and on about how he's going to protect the summoner. A loaded statement considering how much he already has to protect ;)

Ephraim is a bit oblivious though, he has no clue he likes you himself. And he won't know until he's made to think about it by someone else. It's just something he's never worried about.

But his behavior makes it clear to others. Ruffling your hair, escorting you nearly everywhere and even having you nearby as he sparred with other heroes. It seems as though him and the summoner are inseparable!

He's just as protective as the Henry and Raven but Ephraim runs off of his instinct to protect you rather than than being pissed off at someone who upset you.

Yarne:

"You always look so busy. Why don't you take a break and pet my fur? I hear that it's pretty relaxing."

"I'm not big on danger, but I don't want to see you go extinct, either. On the battlefield, you stay behind me, OK?"

like Libra, HIS ENTIRE LVL 40 CONVO: "Hey, Summoner...Did you notice? I didn't jump when you spoke to me. I heard you coming. Lately, I catch myself listening for your footsteps, wondering where you're going...If you ended up getting attacked, summoners would go extinct! And I'd be pretty lonely. If you're ever in danger, shout my name, or just make a loud noise. I'll hear it and come running! Thanks to you, I've gotten plenty strong. Now I can protect you! Thanks for giving me the courage to help."

Bro...the footsteps thing is so cuuuute! The fact that he recognizes them...aww! ++Offering up his fur to be pet?? Absolutely superb-

Yarne's fear of going extinct is always something he's struggled with but he's willing to push through it to keep you safe. He's a sweet man who places the summoner's safety at the same level as his own. And that's why I think he absolutely deserves a spot on this list!

Lucius:

"I feared that you'd lose respect for me if you knew the truth—or would even be repulsed. I do such good works that I shouldn't allow myself to care, but when it comes to you...I do. I put myself in your hands. Will you like or loathe me? But know this, you will have my loyalty."

Lucius is so sweet and caring and very supportive of the summoner, my poor boy doesn't even care about whether or not you'd shun him, just that you know he'd support you regardless.

dndnxnx I can definitely see him falling for the summoner but feeling no need to divulge it to them juuuuuust yet. He's very much content with simply being near the summoner so he doesn't think all that much about revealing any feelings.

Of course, he's incredibly attentive so if the summoner falls for him...he'll know. But even then, he'll wait for them to come to him. Patiently. As long as he has to.

Valter:

"I will master you. Someday."

"You are mine now. Entertain me! More!"

"I do take what I want. I'll take whatever I desire. From anyone. Knowing this, you have made use of me. And you have granted me much power... I cannot understand your actions. Do you intend to control me? Or do you long for me to be your master? Either way, you have become my finest prey. I will not permit another to sate their bloodlust on you...Just me."

I said the ones who have a thing for the summoner, not whether or not it was a BAD thing cjcnfnfnxn

Hoo boy. Possessive and obsessive is the name of the game in this wheelhouse;; though it's a little strange when it comes to Valter. He has a very calm demeanor (most of the time) when speaking to the summoner as opposed to his manic state in batttle.

My reason for putting him on this list is the clear "This one belongs to me." attitude cjfjdjd I have a feeling that he has no issue getting to use his lance against any of the summoner's "admirers"

Gaius:

"Here to beg more candy off me? I'm not sharing this one, though— it's my favorite right now. Packed with sweet, sweet honey...Hm? You don't want candy? You got work for me, then? ...No? Wait, you're not just here to spend time with me, are ya? 'Cause that'd make you a big ol' marshmallow. Only softies try to build relationships up for their own sake. And here you are—soft as cotton candy. Heh. I changed my mind. Take the honey candy. No reason—just my way of saying thanks."

Isn't this SO cute?? Gaius, the king of all things sweet and sugary, giving his favorite candy to the summoner because they just want to spend time with him....how cute!!

He's such a softie for them and it's adorable! If anyone's being led by the nose here, it's Gaius. But without the summoner knowing how positively melt able Gaius is💖💖💖

Gaius isn't a mean guy by nature but I think him giving away his new favorite candy is a clear sign of a particular fondness.

Narcian:

"I'll make you regret that you picked a fight with me, Narcian! One day I'll make you kneel. Then I'll pet your head like a little kitty—and keep you at my side forever! Ha ha ha ha!"

Is this one surprising to yall? jddjdj its really just the kitty at my side part that makes me think it heheheh. Narcian thinks of Narcian first and such, he is deserving of the best.

And of all the fleas that drown in his brilliance, he has deemed you the best in suiting him. (ꈍᴗꈍ) Isn't that lovely?

In his lvl. 40 conversation, he mentions that the summoner has said he's full of himself so...this is 100% a dynamic of the summoner being tired of his crap and the guy who thinks this summoner belongs to him fjfjfjfj

Shigure:

"I'm glad you've come to see me. Do you want my company on a mission? Or perhaps to just look for a rainbow. I do enjoy being by myself, but spending time with you is also quite relaxing. Perhaps it's because... You're not the chatty type. I have grown fond of you. I hope you'll remember me even after we one day part ways. Nothing would make me happier than if every time you glance at the sky or hear a song, you think of me. Perhaps it's a bit selfish for a mere Hero to ask for such a thing from a Summoner, but it's simply how I feel. And I thought you should know."

"I don't like singing for an audience. Unless, of course, that audience is you. You are often in my thoughts."

"Would you walk with me sometime? You could tell me more about this beautiful world and about yourself as well."

So I counted, and Shigure has asked the Summoner like 5 times if they'd like to go somewhere or do something with him fjfjfjdn And he's asked them not to forget him, it seems that he wants to remain imprinted in their thoughts.

There's a bit of a calm but melancholy air in this dynamic sometimes. But it switches to a light environment when he speaks about going for rides on his pegasus with the summoner. :') Dhdjfj isn't it a cute idea to go on a flying date??

Shigure is sweet and is even willing to sing for the summoner, so long as they are the only one to be his audience. He's got no qualms about sharing his voice with the summoner and its "Got a thing for the summoner" worthy (ꈍᴗꈍ)

Chrom:

"Aren't you cold? I wouldn't be much of a Hero if I let our summoner collapse. Here, take my cape."

"If you're ever in trouble, just call for me. Wherever you are, I'll come running with the wind at my back."

"You spend time with me. You're by my side, cheering me on. You make me stronger. That...makes me happier than you can guess. I'm truly grateful. I'll do what I can to do the same for you."

Hxhxhx im a sucker for the "Take my coat" trope. He's so supportive and an absolute sweetheart, baring his heart out to the summoner. He speaks a lot about how nothing will ever break his and the summoner's bond too!

He mentions it constantly! In fact, in his lvl.40 Bunny Version Conversation, he paints (a bad) portrait of the summoner on a festival egg and writes a poem on the other side about how much he values the summoner's presence.

He's absolutely intent on displaying how much he cares about his bond with the summoner and it's a very sweet dynamic. He's eager to show how much he cherishes them and that's the easiest way to end up on this list xjxhxhxh

[summonerscenarios]

Heyo, I was the anon the requested the angst with Zabs, Ophion, and Oni and I was wondering if you have the time if you can make a continuation where MC decides to pursue them and confesses their love. I also want to say that the HCs where really well done. I think you're a really good writer. Thank You, Juno! ❤

Hoo this one has been a long time coming!! you can really tell I got carried away trying to give this as much emotion as possible. Thank you sweetie for your kind words and here’s your request~!

Original can be found here!

-------

Ophion

Out of the three of them, Ophion seems the least affected by the previous events and had little problems reintegrating into the extravagant life he was temporarily pulled away from. You’ve been dancing around the subject of confessing for a while, not because you didn’t want to, but it felt as though it wasn’t the right time, so you’d kept your feelings to yourself. Eventually though, as time goes on, it becomes more and more apparent that you can’t keep your feelings to yourself for much longer, and they finally come pouring out when you have a minute alone with the tycoon, away from prying eyes in a space that you’re sure the dragon reserved just for you.

Upon hearing your words of confession you can see Ophion’s posture straighten and mirth dance in his eyes; it’s clear that these are the words that he’s desired to hear from you since being reunited, and he doesn’t hesitate to make this fact known to you. Once again you’re taken into Ophion’s arms, one hand coming to smooth through your hair as another reaches behind you to press against your lower back. A pleased rumble resonates through him as he tells you just how much it means to finally hear those words uttered from your lips. You’re fully prepared for the slew of affection that’s sure to come, leaning into the hand that begins to slide up your back, moving to rest upon your shoulder....

But then you feel it. He hesitates, hand twitching just shy of touching you. Then, he pulls back.

Confused, you look up into Ophion’s face only to find the dragon looking down at you with an expression you don’t expect. Remorse, or maybe pity? You aren’t entirely sure, but you do know that this reaction is out of the ordinary for someone who prides himself so much on being above all else. His voice is softer than his usually bold declarations as he tells you that if this is truly the moment where the two of you are joined together, then now should be the moment that he lays everything bare before you beforehand. That perplexes you further - it’s easy to mistake that as perhaps some steamy remark, but something in the pit of your stomach tells you otherwise, and with a feeling of unease you agree.

He leads you to take a seat, never straying his hand from its hold on yours yet keeping his grip loose as he allows you a moment to get comfortable. There is no easy way to tell someone about the details of the kidnapping and the orb, but he is straightforward and honest in his explanation, telling you everything. It’s a lot to take in, hearing about the previous loops and how so many of them involved scenarios where the two of you were well into the throes of a relationship; just hearing about some of the things he’s able to recall has you flustered but incredibly happy knowing that you got together in previous loops. Then, with some hesitation, he begins to fill in the brutal endings to those loops, and you now know why he’d kept the events of what happened to himself. Hearing them is a lot, but you can’t even imagine what it must have been like to experience firsthand, even if they technically haven’t happened in this loop. 

Your expression must have reflected the mess of emotions that were filling you, as Ophion squeezes your hand in a comforting gesture and you are now acutely aware of the fact that his hold on you is loose as though you are something fragile in his hands - you don’t want to be fragile; you aren’t going to break. He tells you this so that there are no secrets between you going forward - you have every right to know and he’s not foolish enough to think that hiding this information would benefit you in any way. But, he also tells you this to make a promise to you now - he will not make the errors that his previous selves were imprudent enough to make. It’s a promise that he made to himself that day, and a promise that he is renewing before you right now, both as this loop’s Ophion and as your partner; and he will use this moment now as a stepping stone to prove to you that he’s as good as his word and that he can be a worthy lover.

Oniwaka

Oniwaka has been going out of his way to avoid you since the kidnapping incident - he refused to talk about what had happened to him on the day, and as soon as he’d had the chance, he’d made himself scarce, disappearing for long periods of time. It worried you, especially given how before this point you guys were inseparable, practically stuck at the hip. Wherever you went, Oniwaka was sure to follow; now, the roles were reversed. Seeking him out was harder than you thought, and the fact he was purposefully staying out of sight didn’t make it easier, but you were never one to back down from a challenge - you needed to get this off of your chest before he decided to fall right out of your life.

You were obvious with your intentions from the get go, never hiding your emotions or how you were feeling so that both Oni and everyone else around you had an inkling regarding your feelings towards the oni. Wasting time was never your strong suit, so it was only a matter of time before you ended up coming right out and saying it, admitting your feelings so you could find out whether they were reciprocated or not. Surely you weren’t the only one feeling this way, after all the things you and Oniwaka had been through together, surely he saw there was something more there, a deeper relationship that you both desired to have, be it now or later on down the line.

He’s suspected that this was coming - he saw the signs - but even he didn’t think you would be so forthcoming with it. And now he’s staring you down, looking at your hopefully expression determined and desperate for an answer, regardless of whether it was a yes or no. He should say no outright, to turn you down in the hopes that it will be enough for you to go away and forget about him, to find someone else who doesn’t have your deaths on his hands. But he can’t - he still has feelings for you, but he still refuses to forgive himself for those past loops; he’s torn, so much so that the words just can’t come out - not a rejection, nor an acceptance of your feelings. What comes out instead is a slow “Don’t...don’t do this”, which makes you freeze. Don’t do what? He expects you to know - you can’t give him this choice, because you both know that he could never say no when it comes to you

You try to ask what he means but he shakes his head, cursing that he doesn’t have time for this and begins to walk away from you, which sparks a wave of anger from you in response. Seriously? He doesn't even have the guts to tell you why he’s turning you down and expects you to be okay with him walking away? Without thinking you catch up to him, the annoyance rising in your voice as you demand he slow down and just talk to you, pestering, and pestering, until finally the tension that’s in the air reaches its peak and he whirls around, bellowing out:

“I’M NOT GONNA SAY I LOVE YOU JUST TO WATCH YOU DIE AGAIN, OKAY?!”

The very air itself seems to freeze and your heart drops into your stomach. Again? You know that it isn’t a mistake, the sheer look of guilt on his face is enough to convince you it wasn’t just a slip of the tongue - something happened, and you demand to know what it is. If it involves you and him you need to know. What comes next is a flurry of information. Oniwaka knows he’s put his foot in it and that you won’t leave it alone until you get your answers, you’ve always been persistent, it’s one of the reasons he liked you, but it couldn’t be more frustrating now. In a twisted way, Oni hopes that you finding out about his hand in your past deaths will be enough to convince you to stay away, to back off and run back to the Summoners for the protection he feels like he can no longer provide. And for a moment he almost gets it; once you’re filled in you’re unusually silent, staring down at your hands with an expression torn between confused and shocked realizing the state of your own mortality. You should turn around and run away, get away so that he can put as much distance between the two of you as possible and keep an eye on you from a distance from now on. You should...but you don’t

You run into his arms with enough force to knock the air out of his lungs and Oniwaka makes a choked sound, clearly taken off guard. He tries to push you away, telling you that he shouldn’t but you don’t budge, only tightening your hold refusing to let go of him. He loses conviction quickly, the hands trying to push you away reduced to pawing uselessly at your chest to make you let go even if he really doesn’t want you to. Oniwaka cusses out your persistence but his head drops down, eyes screwed shut as the emotions he’s been keeping in come bubbling over like a boiling pot.

It takes a moment for the words to come but soon enough they’re flowing from your mouth. Whatever happened back in those past loops isn’t now - the people you were in those past loops aren't the people standing like this, right now. You will never fault him for the actions that his other selves made, even if he does - you trust him, you know this version of him would never do that to you, and above all else you love this Oniwaka, not any other, and if he thinks you’re just gonna give up what you guys have for something like that he’s got another thing coming. You don’t look up, head pressed flush against his chest as you listen to his heartbeat hammering away behind his ribs like it would burst at any moment. There’s a hitch in his breath, a shaky inhale before a quivering “idiot” and then his arms wrap around you, returning your hug with enough force to have your chuckle come out strained as he buries his face into your hair. Small droplets hit the top of your head, and you don’t need to look at him to know that he’s crying - his burly form shudders as you continue to hug him, hoping above anything that your actions will convey more than your words ever could.

Zabaniyya

You already had a suspicion that something was wrong - there’s been a level of distance between you and Zabaniyya ever since the incident with those mysterious kidnappers with the orb. You’d chalked it up to him taking time to recover from what happened, and you don’t blame him; you still have unanswered questions about what exactly he went through, but you aren’t going to push him on the issue until he’s in a better place or has moved on from the event. Zabaniyya is visited by you often, even more so than before as you’re hoping to be a shoulder for him to lean on and trust. It’s because of this that the two of you often have moments together, small moments where you can’t help but feel like there’s something more there - something that if you really pushed, could lead to a deeper bond in your relationship. But now’s not the time, you have to keep reminding yourself about that fact, you’re pretty sure Zab’s not ready for things to go any further than they have.

But time has passed, and the longer time goes on the harder it gets to keep your feelings to yourself - you’d been meaning to confess earlier, before all of this happened, but when Zabaniyya has disappeared you’d worried yourself into a frenzy searching every crevice of Tokyo to find where he’d been taken. And once you’d found him and you saw his reaction upon seeing you, you knew that your feelings would have to go onto the back burner to focus on being there for him as he moves on from the kidnapping. If he moved on...

But there’s a kindling in your chest, welling up to the surface with each passing day until you knew you just couldn’t wait any longer - that event made you realize that you could lose the people close to you just like that, and you might not ever get the chance to get this off of your chest if this ever happened again (a thought that keeps you up for more nights than you can count). Finally, your feelings come bubbling to the surface during one of your meetings with him. The last thing that Zabaniyya expected from you was a confession, watching you bear your soul out to him during a moment behind closed doors. Being left in a room alone with you, Zabaniyya feels anxious - he’d never dream of raising a violent hand against you, but he had still gone out of his way to make sure the two of you were never alone, always around someone whom he trusted to protect you if need be. So seeing you now, standing so close to him he feels uneasy, the memories he was shown of the previous loops flashing before him in an all too familiar pattern. He doesn’t deserve your confession of love, no matter how much he desires them; he doesn’t deserve to have these feelings directed at him when you are so oblivious to the egregious actions he’s committed.

You’re met with silence as your response, but his eyes speak for him. There’s confliction behind his neutral facade, pooling behind his eyes as you look upon him, gaze unwavering. You call out his name and he actually flinches, an action you’ve rarely seen from the angel before; your brows furrow and you call his name again, watching as his eyes stray from yours to look away. The third time you call his name you step forward, closing the distance and reaching out as you attempt to explain that if something’s wrong you’re here to listen, and that if he wants to he can just forget about the whole confession. You want to comfort him, but also find out what’s keeping his silence, so you cover his hands with your own.

The moment your hands come to clasp around his is what seems to break him. 

Zabaniyya’s body trembles before he drops to his knees, kneeling before you. He brings your hands, still clasped around his, to press against his forehead and he bows his head as a slew of apologies flow from his lips as though begging for forgiveness. Your heart clenches at the sight, not yet understanding why he’s doing this, but seeing the angel in genuine distress hurts a part of you that has you feeling both sick and anxious. 

Any attempts to coax answers out of him whilst he’s like this only gets is a declaration of how he has failed you, an incorrigible betrayal of your trust. Now that really concerns you; as far as you’re aware, Zabaniyya has done nothing of the sort to ‘betray you’, and you have absolute faith that he wouldn’t do that, but of course you don’t know what he knows, and while he’s in such a state you doubt that you will be able to get it out of him. So instead you do the only thing you can think of to comfort him.

You sink down to your knees, leaning down so that you’re face to face with Zabaniyya, and gently move your hands from out of his grip. He releases them immediately, as though suddenly catching himself in a moment of weakness, but he bristles as you cup a hand against his cheek. He raises his head and your eyes meet; seeing you looking at him, smile warm, loving and alive, tugs at something within himself and he allows his eyes to close, leaning into the palm of your hand and shoulders dropping, momentarily relieved of the weight they’ve been carrying since that fateful day. 

He looks almost defeated, as though you’ve found a chink in his armor, and you want nothing more than to patch it up, to fill those breaks with everything you have until he doesn’t have to look at you with confliction behind his every breath. But you can’t build him up, at least not yet, not when he hasn’t told you everything that you need to know. For now you reach and wrap your arms around his shoulders, hands spread flat against his upper back as you hug him; there’s hesitation, but the next moment Zabaniyya is in your arms, and you can feel the flames that burn within him, pulsing beneath his skin in a slew of emotions you have yet to understand. After this you’ll finally find out the whole story about what happened with him and the orb, but for this moment Zabaniyya needs this, the silence in the room filled with his whispered pleads for forgiveness as you continue to hold him close.

[a-girl-must-have-a-new-name]

Best One Yet

Gendry choked as he opened the Tyrell’s front door and a fog of dried ice assaulted him. However he waved it away and gallantly held the door open wider so that Arya could slip under his arm and enter. 

“Wow Margaery really outdid herself again this year didn’t she!” It was more fact than question, one Gendry didn’t bother answering as they took in their surroundings for the evening.  Margaery Tyrell had gone all out this year and had decorated her house as if it were a mausoleum, if mausoleums were underground vampire clubs of course. Columns that Gendry was at least seventy-five percent sure hadn’t been there before, now lined the entrance  and into the ballroom  of the estate. Instead of twinkling lights or whatever it was that they usually used for parties it seemed like Margaery and Loras had acquired a couple hundred sconces to light the house in a flickering candlelight. Gendry hoped that when the eventual fire would start Arya and he would be long gone. Though it seemed as though Arya had no such plan, eyeing the “mood lighting” in absolute delight.  

“This is amazing! Robb had said Margaery had been going crazy the last week or so with planning, but even he has to admit it was worth it!”  

“I don’t know, I kinda like last years theme better.” Last year had been a pumpkin carving party with tons of alcohol involved. 

“That’s just because you enjoyed seeing Joffrey accidentally cut himself with a carving knife.”

“And you didn’t?” 

“Well lets just say I wasn’t boo hooing as his goons dragged him to the hospital for stitches.” Arya smiled as she thought back to Joffrey almost fainting from the sight of all his blood.  

“Arya, Gendry! I’m so glad you came!” Margaery Tyrell was on them in an instant hugging and kissing both on the cheek before pulling away to look at them. 

“Love your costumes by the way! Please tell me that you’ll both enter the couples contest!”  Margery spoke over the music. Arya looked up at Gendry coyly and shrugged. This year they had decided to go as Batman and Catwoman.  Not the most original costume idea they’ve had but one that suited them fine nonetheless. In fact Arya was rather proud of the look. Having decided to go with a more vintage looking Catwoman, taking her inspiration right from Julie Newmar. 

Arya had begged Sansa for months to make the costume and after promising to cover Sansa’s chores for the rest of the year. (As well as forking over the money for materials needed and a little extra for service) Arya couldn’t be happier! How Sansa had gotten the pattern needed and an almost exact type of fabric she couldn’t say but damn was her sister good at what she does. Sansa had even offered to help her do her hair and make up, styling it like Brigitte Bardot. 

Arya had thought Gendry would go with the Nolan batman costume or something of that nature. To show off his stature and muscles, also because it was overall just bad ass if she had to say so. However, to her surprise Gendry showed up to her house in the Adam West Costume eyebrow mask and all. Once Arya could stand up straight again after laughing too hard she asked him why the choice? 

“Who doesn’t want to be Adam West? Besides the other costumes made me look strange with all the extra padding sewn in on them.” Gendry did mention off-handedly, obviously a little embarrassed at the explanation but Arya couldn’t see why.  Gendry had a great fucking body, one that was constantly on her mind if she was honest. He was well built from years of sports and hard work, lifting and carrying car parts and tools at his job at Mott’s Garage. He wasn’t crazy muscular  like Dany’s Boyfriend was but he was still fit buff. In Fact with him wearing the batsuit she was reminded of vintage photos of American football players. 

Shaking away her thoughts she turned back to Margaery admiring her own costume choice,  Margaery had opted for a vampire look, befitting this year's theme.  She was wearing a long flowy black sheer and laced corset dress with black and red roses adorning her hair in a makeshift crown that ended up cascading strategically down the back of her hair in smaller roses. 

“Margaery your costume is great, I can see why Robb spent so much on his costume!” Arya 

“Hey from what I heard my costume didn’t cost anything near what  yours did. Hey Gendry what’s up? Batman nice!” Robb had joined the little group, greeting Gendry with their usual hug and leaned over to try and muss Arya’s hair who expertly dodged. Robb’s costume was very similar to Margaery's having an almost Victorian design with the same details sewn into the dress cape he wore.  The group talked a little longer but Margaery had to excuse herself having hosting duties and Robb being the ever dutiful boyfriend followed her.  Arya turned to Gendry eyed him up and down a glint in her eyes as she spoke

“Mr. Wayne would you care to dance?”

“Only if you call me Batman when we are out in public, Don’t want to have my identity known.”

“Purrr-fect.” Arya jokingly said as she grabbed Gendry’s hand and excitedly led him to the dance floor. Where a dark techno beat was blasting. For the next hour or so they danced. It was truly an eclectic set Margaery had put together. one moment it was a haunting waltz music which unsurprisingly for the group that had gathered all knew. (products of their upbringings) Gendry was a little nervous only having learned these dances later in life but Arya gently reminded him as they went and soon it was no problem at all for him, even surprising her once or twice with twirls and dips. 

There were also the songs where they pull each other closer, moving rhythmically to the slowed hypnotic beats. A growing frustration at wanting to be even closer to each other, often forgetting where they were and getting caught up in the moment. Only getting a warning  click of disapproval from Jon once, before his girlfriend Ygritte dragged him away.  

 While jumping along when rave music blasted.  After one final dance, one that was exceptionally energetic, Gendry pleaded for a break and both moved towards the refreshment tables. Gendry in search of food and drink for them while Arya looked for a place to sit.  

“Arya come sit at my table!” Sansa’s voice rang out clearly but Arya had trouble placing it until a wild hand beckoned her forward.  

“Sansa is that you?” Arya was shocked instead of seeing her normal long Tully red hair Sansa was wearing a short dark black wig. Styled in a classic men's side part. It was jarring to see her with dark short hair. Arya thought rather enviously that it suited her even better than when Arya sported a short cropped hairstyle all those long years ago. Sansa’s delicate features were highlighted even more. And was it possible that Sansa’s blue eyes looked even brighter  because of the dark color? Life was unfair.

However, Arya didn’t dwell on it like she would have years ago instead she smiled widely and  approached Sansa who for her part was lounging at the table she had acquired and was looking around the room from time to time.

“This is great isn’t it? I think it’s even better than junior year's Rocky Horror theme!”  Sansa exclaimed as Arya plopped down beside her. 

That year had been a karaoke party while the film continuously played on loop on one of the dance floor walls. Sansa had been dragged up to the mic to sing and pretty much stole the show.  Well at least she had until Olenna Tyrell walked down the stairs for a drink  and came face to er- Renly Baratheon's gyrating hips as he danced drunkenly on one of the tables.

 It had been a night to remember truly. Especially when Olenna surprised everyone and grabbed the mic from Sansa’s hands and with a strength that a woman of her age shouldn’t have possessed pulled Renly down from the table and had him singing along with her in no time. 

“That was a pretty great party.”  Arya admitted remembering Sansa’s scandalized face at the time.

“Hey Arya I grabbed a whole bunch of different things to eat! I even snagged a goodie bag for dessert. I figured we can grab a few more later. Margaery isn’t going to notice- Oh hey Sansa almost didn’t recognize you!  Great costume but I thought Arya said you were going as the little mermaid?” 

“Oh I am, however somebody made a better case that they should be Ariel” Sansa replied casually with a conspiratorial  smile forming across her lips as she looked behind them. 

“Sup Bitches! Gendry I love what you’ve done with your brows!” Theon shouted loudly as he placed two bottles on the table, a water for Sansa and a beer for him.

 Gendry who had taken a bite out of his cupcake  once again  began to choke, though Arya couldn’t be worried at the moment as she grinned wildly at Theon reaching over the table to give him a high five.  Theon had a long red wig on and a purple seashell bra that was slightly skewed. His bottom half Arya was happy to see covered by a mertail.  Which was connected to a stick so he could move it around. 

“Alright I give up, Gendry I don’t think we are going to win the costume contest.”

“That’s fine with me, if you guys don’t win it, the contest is rigged!” 

“Come on now, I think we’ve got a good shot to win this year” Ygritte's voice came from behind as everyone turned to look at them. Ygritte and Jon looked absolutely ridiculous in their Scoops Ahoy costumes. 

Jon had absolutely refused at first, saying there was no way he’d walk around looking like that. Contest or not.

 However, it was no surprise to Arya that, that evening as she was walking through the hallway she spotted Jon meticulously adjusting the sailor hat to sit perfectly on his locks. Jon having caught her looking only sighed defeatedly and shrugged his shoulders.  As if to say  “what can you do?”  

Everyone moved around so that there was more room at the table and Theon nodded his head regarding the newest members of the table looking them up and down  before his normal sly smile crept across his face.

“I’ll give it to you, you’ve got the upper hand in terms of popularity at the moment. But what Sans and I’ve got is pure classic nostalgia, and humor. Though I do have to admit Snow, those shorts are a riot!”

“Not to mention you really nailed the hair Harrington!” Robb joined the conversation plopping on the only chair left at the table next to Jon and ruffling his hair. Causing Jon to curse moving out of reach and adjusting the hat once more.

“Where’s Margaery? Sansa asked, looking around for her.

“She’s setting up for the runway right now.” Robb answered as he swiped Theon’s beer taking a sip for himself while Theon went to go get more drinks for the table.

“She got a runway for this?” Gendry asked in disbelief, rich people never stopped surprising him.

“Hey at least it’s not a haunted mansion like she rented three years ago.” Robb offered knowingly. Patting Gendry on the back.

“But Harrenhal was awesome. I want to go back!” Arya defended. Gendry looked visibly ill at the thought. That was back before they had become a couple, they had decided to go to the party with their friend Hot Pie. It was not a good night for Gendry who up until that moment had been able to keep his fear of jump scares and ghost to a minimum. It also didn’t help that some pretty boy named Jaqen had gone along on their group's tour, walking with Arya and laughing at the scare actors and tour guide as they went. 

The only thing that made the tour bearable was after one close call of Gendry nearly hitting a worker with his Thor hammer. Arya having realized what was wrong, left the front of the group to walk side by side with him the rest of the night. Taking his hand in preparation for the next scare, and squeezing it to reassure him before letting go again. At some point in the night Gendry just kept a hold of her hand. And within the week they were going out. So yeah maybe Harrenhal wasn’t as bad as he remembered.  But still the thought of the creepy burnt house and all the ghost and ghouls that were there was enough to keep him away for a lifetime

The rest of the night ended up staying for the most part at the table, laughing and reminiscing on Halloween’s past. Theon caused everyone to cry from laughter as he retold highlights of his tricks as a child. How he had successfully tee-peed old Walder Frey's house and never got caught. To which Robb added that he never got caught only because Robb was blamed for it instead. It cost Robb a month of cleaning and yard work at the man’s house to make up for it. 

Arya had moved from her chair at some point to sit on Gendry’s lap and leaned into the crook of his neck enjoying the feeling of his body laughing at her brother’s wild antics. It was nice to see the usually stoic man open up and enjoy other peoples company. But Arya  knew it was only because this was her crazy family and he’d known all of them just as long as she’d known him. He was just as much a part of the stories as anyone else.  

The group ate and drank the rest of the night, Robb having left half way through to go help Margaery once more, and soon the contest had begun.  The crowd cheered as each couple walked the runway.  Margaery and Robb walked first after having explained they wouldn’t be competing but still thought the costumes deserved to be appreciated. They looked like quite the power couple. Then after a while Jon and Ygritte had their turn. Both laughing as they walked, people screaming their character’s names and quoting the show as they went.  As they sat back down Jon winked at Arya.

“Beat that.”

“Oh trust me, we will!” feeling her competitive streak rise up Arya hopped out of Gendry’s lap and grabbed his arm dragging him along. After quickly consulting with each other on what they were going to do Arya ran back stage to hand her phone to Margaery asking her to play it on the sound system. By the time Arya got back to Gendry it was almost their time to walk. And as soon as the original batman theme started playing the crowd went wild. Gendry ran out on stage karate chopping and punching the air in wild broad strokes in time with the music. Meanwhile Arya waited until he was about two thirds of the way down the runway and then she was going. Thanking her parents for all the years of gymnastics she had taken Arya carted her way down. Twisting and flipping perfectly down the line. Before landing perfectly next to Gendry. Both grinned like idiots as they took a sweeping bow. Confident in their spot they hopped off the Stage Gendry catching Arya easily in his arms which added more fuel to the fire as the crowd laughed and cheered even more. Walking back to their table Arya eyed Ygritte coyly before asking.

“Still think you're winning?”  

“No, no we know when we’re beat.” Ygritte laughed.

“I just hope you know when you Are.” Jon said with a chuckle as he pointed to the stage where Sansa and Theon were alreadying posing. And once the regular music started once more. Both started to strut the runway. In tandem looking like ridiculous models. At some point Theon somehow was able to wrap the part of the tail that was attached to a stick around his neck dramatically like a scarf before ripping it free at the end of the walk. Sansa for her part pulled out a sword from a hilt and started brandishing it. Arya quickly realized it was her prized fencing sword Jon had bought her.  But couldn’t find it in herself to be mad. Instead she threw her head back wolf whistling as Theon turned “seductively” around showing the complete costume.  In the end it really was no contest. Sansa and Theon won by a landslide. And after a long winded and completely  unnecessary acceptance speech on Theon’s part. (which Arya was very sure she heard Jon muttering to himself that he wished Theon would actually lose his voice.) The party had drawn to a close. The group separated all feeling like the night wasn’t quite over. Gendry hummed in content as he and Arya made it back to his apartment. Having ditched the costumes for more comfortable clothes Arya was snuggled up on the couch in one of Gendry’s large t-shirts, as Gendry flipped through dvd’s before finally settling on one. Quickly putting it in and turning off the lights he sat on the couch as well, gladly letting Arya into his space as she leaned against him once more.  Arya laughed as the title menu for the batman show lit up the screen. 

“Not tired of it yet?”

“No way gotta pay homage to it right?”

“Right, and what better way than a marathon and candy?”

“Oh shit I forgot to get the goodie bags!” 

“I know, that’s why I swiped them, when you were asking Robb if they needed any help cleaning.”

“Why you crafty little thief there’s like 10 bags here!” Gendry laughed as Arya pulled her bag she had taken for the night out and revealed all the treats she had grabbed. Arya merely shrugged, pulling two out and tossing one to Gendry.

“ What can I say? I really wanted to pay homage to Catwoman.” 

This was hands down Margaery’s best Halloween party yet.

[ongaku-ato-kakikomi]

Deaths From The Past - Part Three

(A/N): This is part of a series. Please make sure to check the masterlist to see if you haven’t missed any chapters.

Masterlist

“Aaaah, fresh air!” You spiral around on the sidewalk with your arms stretched out, a wide grin on your face. “Isn’t walking so much better than driving?”

Veronica gives out a giggle at your actions, her eyes sweetening as she follows you towards your shared college. “I guess it is.”

You turn your head towards her to give her a genuine smile, trying your best to not let your eyes flicker on the pack of ghosts following her from behind… who also have been complaining ever since you stepped out of the house.

“I hate walking!” Heather crosses her arms over her chest, grumbling in upper frustration. “I’m dead, I shouldn’t have to walk anymore!”

“Like you can talk!” Ram crosses his arms over his chest, sulking towards the ground. “Kurt and I aren’t even wearing any clothes!”

“Yeah, it’s not like we want all those gorgeous ghost girls to see us naked!”

“I’m the most gorgeous around here! And you’re not naked, dummies, you’re wearing underwear!”

“Just…” JD gives out a groan of exasperation as he snaps his head towards them. “… shut up!”

Andrew’s hand rapidly takes a hold of your shirt to make sure you’re okay, a pitiful smile coming to your lips as you look at Veronica. It’s clear to you that she can hear them, she wouldn’t give out shrieks or jolt away at random times if she didn’t, and you can’t even imagine how awful it must be to hear them fighting over and over. She doesn’t seem to be able to see them though, if she did, she wouldn’t jump up in surprise when JD speaks up: especially when he has been staring at her for hours before then.

She’s like you… but not quite like you. You’ve only met one person that could hear ghosts just like her before, and that person couldn’t believe that you could see them… let alone-

You shake your head. No, you shouldn’t think about that. What happened… happened, no need to reminiscent it.

“So…” You look back at Veronica when she speaks up, her eyes looking down at her feet shyly. “… um… what have your parents… told you about me?”

You give out a snort. “What have they told you about me?”

“You’re kidding, right?” Andrew speaks up for the first time since he’s made himself known to the others, Veronica’s ghosts shutting up and looking at him with wide eyes. “They’re over-protectors, they probably told her everything.”

“Oh, well…” Veronica blinks a few times, not having heard Andrew speaking. “They... didn’t really tell me anything.”

So she can’t hear Andrew? Is it because he’s not connected to her?

“Same here.” You give her a sweet smile. “The only things I know about you are the things you told me.”

She seems taken aback. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“So you haven’t heard anything about me? From anyone?”

“No… I didn’t.” You frown in worry at her. “Are you okay? You seem stressed out.”

She gives out a wide smile for the first time since you’ve met her, a giggle escaping her throat. “I’m great! This day couldn’t be any better!”

You give out a playful scoff. “Well, then… guess you won’t mind a little race!”

“What-” Her eyes widen when she sees you starting to run, a laugh coming out of her mouth as she follows your actions. “Hey! I wasn’t ready!”

“That’s loser’s talk, Veronica!”

“What-no!” Heather gives out a scream as she feels herself getting pulled towards Veronica. “Don’t run! I hate running!”

“You hate everything, Heather!”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“I hate all of you.”

JD looks up from the café’s table he and the others have been sitting at for a few minutes, sending Heather a hard look. “The feeling’s mutual.”

Andrew stays a few steps away from them, carefully watching you and Veronica talk on another table while you’re drinking the campus’ coffee. He’s never seen you be

“Hey, kid!” He jumps up when Kurt suddenly talks to him, his head slowly looking back at the group of ghosts he’s internally scared of. “Why do you keep following us?”

“Yeah!” Ram squints his eyes at the little ghost. “You’re starting to creep me out, dude.”

Heather gives out a groan of frustration while JD rolls his eyes. “He’s obviously bound to (Y/N), you idiots.”

“Who?”

“Oh my fucking god.” Heather holds onto her head, her blue aura deepening. “They’re so freaking dumb.”

“Hey, stop calling us dumb!”

“Yeah, it’s not our fault if you never explain anything to us!”

Andrew just gives out a long sigh. “I can’t believe I have to live with you all now…”

JD turns his eyes towards him, the little kid tensing up when he notices the white eye moving in an unsettling way. He manages to calm down when he hears you and Veronica laugh behind him, continuing your discussion as if you weren’t constantly followed by a bunch of ghosts.

“You died by drowning… didn’t you?”

Andrew gives out a sarcastic scoff, showing his wet hair and clothes. “How’d you guess?”

“Did she kill you?”

The words bring a silence between them, your eyes flickering towards them for a quick moment before you give a hard smile back to Veronica. Andrew slowly gulps in, flashes of what happened so many years ago coming to his life.

“No.”

JD squints his eyes. “… interesting.”

“Bro, you’re lucky you didn’t get murdered.” Kurt crosses his arms over his chair, giving the kid ghost a pout. “This guy and Ronnie shot us both out of nowhere.”

“Oh, boo-hoo, you got shot.” Heather sends them a glare. “They poisoned me!”

“You deserved it.” JD continues to stare at Andrew, who’s expression rapidly turning to a terrified one. “You’re okay there, little guy?”

“(Y/N)!” He quirks an eyebrow when Andrew grabs your arm, his head tilting when he notices your eye slightly flinching from the action. “(Y/N), you need to kick her out! She’s dangerous!”

You grind your teeth when Andrew starts moving your arm slightly, Veronica frowning in worry at you. “Are you okay? Your arm’s shaking.”

“Y-yeah…” You give out a hard smile. “It’s the coffee, um… I might have drunk too much.”

“(Y/N)…” Andrew’s voice becomes more demanding. “She killed people!”

You know. You heard them talk, Veronica probably heard them too. She became slightly sadder than usual when they mentioned their death, and that combined with the fact that she has been nothing but sweet since you’ve met, you can’t believe that she could be a cold-blooded murderer. You can just feel that she’s a good person; someone who made huge mistakes in her life and deeply regrets it.

“Oh god…” Veronica takes your hand in hers, trying to find a way to ease you down. “Why did you drink it if it makes you shake? Do we need to go back home?”

“Ah-it’s okay! I can go home by myself.” You stand up and give her a small smile, Andrew giving out a sigh of relief. “You still need to check out where some of your classes are…”

“Yeah, but I can always come back-”

“But you’re here now, so!” You pick up your vest on the chair and put it back on, giving her a wave before leaving. “I’ll be fine, I swear! I gave you your key to the apartment, right?”

“Yeah-”

“Alright, good, see you later!” You lose your smile as soon as you turn around, feeling the eyes of Veronica and her many ghosts onto your back while Andrew follows you close. “What did we say about ‘not’ talking to me?”

“She killed four people!” You give out a groan as you walk past a few early students towards the exit of the campus, the little boy jumping in front of you so he can give you a terrified look. “She could kill you! Hell, that horrifying ghost could kill you!”

“Not if he doesn’t find out about my abilities.” You give him a side glare. “They’re new ghosts, Andrew. It doesn’t seem like they know much about their world yet.”

“They know about the bounding.”

“Yeah, ‘cause that’s kind of hard to miss.” You bite your bottom lip, looking on each side of the road before you cross it. “You’ve been a ghost for twelve years. And you and I both know that we still have very much to learn.”

He grumbles under his breath, crossing his little arms over his chest as he follows you. “And what if one of them becomes a daemonium? What are you gonna do, huh?”

“New ghosts don’t become daemoniums, Andrew.” You give out an awkward smile when one of the trespassers gives you a weird look, waiting for that person to be far away enough before you speak again. “If anything, you have a better chance of becoming one than them.”

“Unless one of them is filled with rage… reminds you of anyone?”

JD immediately comes to your mind, but you rapidly shake your head. “I don’t wanna judge.”

“Well, you’re gonna need to.” He gives you a dark glare. “Or else they’re gonna kill you when you least expect it.”

You give out a sigh, knowing deep down how’s he right.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

“I don’t understand…” Veronica frowns as she holds onto her cup of coffee, her ghosts now all spread around her coffee table. “What happened? Why did she leave like that?”

“Who knows.” Heather looks down at her nails in pure boredom. “Maybe she got tired of your loserness.”

That doesn’t seem to make her feel better, JD looking away from the horizon where you disappear to set his eyes on his true love.

“She didn’t kill the kid.”

Veronica’s eyes widen for a moment. “Then… why is he bound to her?”

That’s one of the questions he’s asking himself.

But the more important one is… can you see them?

[silverselfshippingchaos]

[dorky-self-shipper] 🎫 here’s a gush pass :3 feel free to gush about whichever f/o you want, however much you want, then send this ask to 3 other selfshippers

Oh, my friend!!! Ahhh thank you so much for sending this in!! I have been a bit iffy because some things in my life have been piling up, but!!! I am so excited to dig into this!!! I really need a good gushing session haha!

Today's target for gushing hours with your girl Ash is none other than Yaag Rosch!

This ended up being pretty long, and is a mix of lore, screaming, keyboard smashes, his gorgeous design, and more screaming.

Saying that this man lives in my head rent free is an understatement. He is all I think about it. Honestly, I think it's funny considering Yaag's role in FF13. He's only around in the first game, and shows up in like five cutscenes.

Also. We get crumbs of him in the novels. More on that later. Back to the game.

All he does is "hey yall suck" "your lives don't matter" "uhh i need to kill you guys" "oh wait no i'm not evil" "*dies*"

But!!! He's very cool!! His character is so interesting to me. He's so driven to do whatever it takes, but beneath his actions, there's always an edge of hesitation. He seems like he comes off as so sure of himself, but... I'm not sure about that. Now, I can't say anything for sure because the writers hate him, I really liked those few moments where we get to see his actual thoughts.

For example, "Do you think we want to Purge our own people?!" And things like that where you see him question his orders. I feel like there's a lot of underlying hatred, distrust, and overall fear of the system.

Also, his development from "They aren't people, they're targets." to "I'll trust in your humanity." Gets me every single time.

Also don't get me started on his "if this is my punishment... i accept it." when he's bleeding line.

I am here to gush, not analyze. But both are happening anyway.

I feel as though he puts a lot of thought into what he says and how he acts, and I really do admire that.

For context, Lieutenant Colonel Yaag Rosch is this military higher-up guy. I remember seeing him for the first time and my jaw simply dropping. I know that these games have a history with hot villains. After all, I am an FF7 fan. I have seen the SOLDIERS, I have seen the Turks, I've seen Rufus. They're all hot.

There. I said it.

This intro scene gave us some damn good food. Like??? The silver hair??? The ponytail??? The scar on his forehead??? The overly dramatic speech about how the protagonists need to be eliminated??AJKLFNAWKJFNAWKLJFNWILEN.

(Also, I'm beginning to see the resemblance he has to Felix. I am a very predictable woman, aren't I?)

I am actually going to scream. He’s so handsome!!! His jaw!! His eyes are such a pretty color too!!! I wanna give him a kiss ahhh!! Especially on his forehead scar!!! He's so... woah.

Also, he has a really, really nice voice. Like??? WOW. I want this man to like. narrate my life. Here, lemme find some clips of him talking.

Here. Enjoy.

This one is a fan favorite as well.

It's not a Rick roll. I promise.

..... Unless?

Anyways, as time went on, I realized that he's actually such a deep and interesting character?? He gets done dirty by the writers and the game, but the potential he has makes me so excited!! There's so much material to work off of!!! Truly one of the more interesting villains the trilogy has to offer. Honestly, it's kind of difficult going through the second game knowing that he isn't there.

However, it's also difficult going through the second game because I??? Can't beat?? The goddamn boss fight??? I'm also playing on easy mode. I didn't struggle this much during the first game either. What the hell, Ash.

Back to the actual topic.

I'm gonna start off with his design before we delve into s/i lore and fun tidbits.

(His coat is so cool... Do you think he'd let me wear it? I'd probably waddle around in it because he's pretty tall and I. I am not.

He's around 6'2 (around almost 188 cm..? I think?), but take into account his boots too. Which means that normally he's slightly taller. That means that he's about a foot taller than me. That means that I'm pretty much the perfect height to bury my face in his chest. *screams*)

Talk about a kickass design. He's really cool to look at. Not only, uhm, *blushes*, but because of how cool his outfit is too! It does a really good job of portraying that "heyyy i'm super importtanntttt" energy that he has. He carries himself like he's the shit. And you know what? He is.

He's pretty professional. Minus the times he gets kinda pissed. The novels say, and I quote,

"They said he was the most straitlaced man in PSICOM - if you put serious and stubborn in a military uniform, you'd get Colonel Rosch."

And yeah. That basically sums it up.

Also, there's this scene where he gets all pissed and pulls out his sword and I'm over here like *insert debby ryan hair thing here*. I'm telling you, it's always the sword boys that get me. I'm sure you've noticed that by now. I don't know what it is but. It's a thing.

Oh!!! Oh!!! Speaking of the *tucks hair behind ear*, there's this one scene where he's chasing the protagonists. And he goes, "Clever, aren't you?"

*SCREAMS*

That scene is truly a masterpiece. Thank you for the good food, Squeenix. I remember having to take a moment to just pause and regather myself. Actually, I had to do that the first time I saw him too-

I wasn't alone at the time when he was introduced so I was just silently like "ohmygodhellosir ajrfnaklwenjklwenjklrn" but oh my GOODNESS.

My s/i works with him! She's pretty much his right hand woman. She always has reports and intel on all their missions ready to go! I find it cute how well they work together, be it for mission-related matters, or just when they're relaxing together.

Just like pretty much all of my other s/is, she's a raging academic and total nerd. In the first game, they basically live on this human paradise called Cocoon. It ends up not being so great because the gods want to murder humanity but anyways! Education is pretty much free and you can study whatever you're passionate about. That's why she has studied just so many things.

She's not exactly the type who aspired to join the military, but alas! Things happened. I like to think of it as a "heyyyy y'all needed my help once and then once turned to twice and twice to thrice and then i never left" type thing.

Oh, and then she fell in love with Yaag while she was there.

Her cheery attitude is a direct opposite to his, but they're also able to have some very serious conversations with each other. I love their dynamic so much! Also, he can get a bit softer when he's opening up to her and,,, Soft Yaag??? Hoo boy.

Her motives and beliefs tend to align a bit more with the Cavalry branch, but i feel as though she fits in better with PSICOM. Also, the book describes the soldiers to be a bunch of dumbass dorks and just the thought of her smiling and cracking jokes with all of Yaag's men make me super happy.

Oh and she gets a cool uniform too! Because I said so.

Now, they've known each other for years by the time the end of the first game rolls around. They're happy together, maybe even engaged! It can go one of two ways here. He either dies or he doesn't.

I like adhering really closely to canon with my ships (*laughs in genesis angst*) but I also think it would be a blast if he were to survive.

In the novels after his death, some recordings of his are found. It's basically him talking about how the government sucks from the inside. A character finds these and reveals them to the public to get rid of the old government and an invite a newer one that actually cares about the people. However, it's never quite stated how he got those recordings. And that's where Ash steps in.

She brings them to his attention and helps him out, but then returns to live with the rest of the remaining soldiers in that camp they set up in the second novel. They all look up to her as a leader-type, which I find is really funny because she doesn't exactly have the qualifications? She worked with PSICOM, but was never exactly a soldier. But hey, it's right after the world (quite literally) fell apart, I don't think that anybody cares about that.

Also, there's another chapter where Snow ends up visiting, and she has a friendly chat with him!!! She helped out the protagonists a little bit near the end of the first game, so they have a slight idea of who each other are, but that doesn't exactly change the fact that she fell under the category of villain for a lot of it, despite not actually being a bad person. I also think that their dynamic would be fun. Snow also just makes me really happy LMAO.

I think that this version of Ash is really fun just because of how much the experience hardens her? She spends a lot of time grieving. Also!!! Whether or not she makes a cameo in 13-2 (maybe near the ruins early game?) is totallllyyyy up to you hehe! I think it would be neat for her to talk to the protagonists of that game, especially since Yaag was the one who orchestrated the Purge and at the ruins, there's a huge monument of the names of people who were killed there.

Also, whether or not she has a son here is up to you. I like to think of all my ideas all happening in alternate timelines so everything I want can happen without stepping on other events? I imagine their child to have Yaag's pretty silver hair with Ash's brown eyes.

Also, 13-2 is about time travel so like. The protagonists meeting their child in the future when he's all grown up? Good stuff.

But hey, in the main timeline she's alone after Yaag's death. She helps the other characters. I also think that in time, she does work for the Academy? I mentioned that she's pretty nerdy earlier, so that definitely helps out. She's super cool!!! Such a badass!!!

Now, on the flipside of things, what if he survived? Then what happens? shameless self promo

Yaag still has those recordings, and they do still reach Captain Rygdea. They both live in the small village that the remnants of PSICOM created. It's a sweet life. Are fankids a thing in their future? Yeah, probably.

I feel like Yaag would be a really good dad. I headcanon that he has a very strong relationship with his own father as well. He's caring and stern, but also knows when to turn down the serious scale. The novels also say that he likes kids!?!?!? I know I've screamed about this point like 24892 times on my blog. But.

It's so cute??? Who would expect this super serious and mean man who quite literally says that the protagonists aren't people, they're targets to like children of all things???? It really is my favorite thing ever just because of how cute it is. I also have a few tiny cousins in my family, so him playing with them makes me very soft too.

("Would you please stop tugging on my hair- Ash, this is not a laughing matter!" "Oh, but it so is.")

I think that detail really helps hint at him having a more gentle side? And I adore that.

Also, I mentioned how Snow pays a visit to the PSICOM camp after the events of the first game? I think that would be very interesting with Yaag there because before Yaag dies in canon, Snow says, "Stay alive. We'll see you when it's over."

And now he finally gets to see him. The conversation would get surprisingly deep and definitely dive into Yaag's motives and real thoughts about his actions in the game. I really enjoy the few interactions those two have in the game.

Anyways, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's dig into the meat and potatoes of this ship.

In 13-2, they get a separate dlc side story just to themselves. Because I said so. I'm not sure how the plot of this works, but it's basically them exploring Gran Pulse together. Maybe to map things out? Maybe to get better acquainted with the world they thought was a hell their whole lives? Maybe there's some sort of big mission they have to do? We'll figure it out.

Basically, it's a whole side story of them exploring and kicking monster ass together. The combat is regular 13 combat.

Yaag has his sword along with some explosives (we see him carry some grenades at the end when he blew himself up). And Ash also has a sword because I like swords.

In the game, usually only l'Cie, or magic god slaves, can use magic. However, after the fal'Cie (magic gods) go poof at the end of the end of the first game, some normal humans can use magic? It makes no sense and exists only for plot convenience, but I'm not complaining because it makes my plot easier too.

My point is, Ash can use magic! Because A) she's quirky mage material B) we need a balanced team C) Every single version of Ash so far has been a mage. D) I like magic a lot. Would be my go-to as well.

Also, if you're interested in how they work in battle, roles divide up very nicely between them.

Yaag has: -Commando (physical attacks) -Sentinel (beefy tanks) -Sabuteur (debuffing enemies)

Ash has: -Ravager (magic goes brrr) -Medic (i think you know) -Synergist (buffing allies) -Commando (physical attacks)

Maybe Yaag could get medic too to balance off the load in battle? They're a blast in combat because they really do compliment each other.

Anyways, back to the adventure.

It's the two of them traveling around. The main focus of it is their conversations as they travel. There's a lot of fun banter. Ya know how like when you're walking around in Naughty Dog games and your characters are just chatting? Yeah. That.

Their conversations are super random and they cover pretty much every single topic ever. They go from really serious to them just being stupid. I love their friendly banter.

Also, when they set up camp and are about to sleep, we get to see sleepy Yaag in action. And do you know what that means?

It means we get to see Yaag with his hair done a bit looser, maybe even down!!! Yaag with his hair down is all I want to see. It's what we deserve. It's what we need. The day that I see Yaag with his hair down is the day i achieve true happiness LMAO.

It's what we need.

Ash playing with his hair??? Yes, I most definitely think so.

Oh and there is totally a "Yaag, I'm cold." "Allow me to help remedy that. *pulls her closer*" type moment because they're cute like that.

All in all, their travels are really fun. Maybe somewhere around there they run into the protagonists? Either from the first game or the second game. I think that would be a fun mess.

I feel like Yaag can show a softer side of him around her and that makes me really happy. He deserves to be happy and I love him very much.

I think about him all the time, and just the thought of him holding me makes me so happy. He really is just adorable.

Before I wrap this up, I have a few more things I want to speak about! Firstly, allow me to share one of my favorite pictures of him because oh. my. god.

*screams*

The urge to backhug him!!! Ahh!!! He's so cute!!!! I just wanna hold him aelajflanef.

One of my favorite pre-relationship moments from them is this one time where Yaag is pretty down in the dumps, and Ash is talking to him about it and offering her advice. And as she talks, she gently places a hand over his (they're seated side by side btw). He looks up at her in shock, and she takes back her hand is like, "O-oh! I'm so sorry, I should've asked first, I just thought tha-"

And then he just snatches her hand back and gently holds it. You can see the tips of his ears burning red haha! I think that they're pretty cute ajfwnjklef

She always tries her best to take care of him, too! He needs a hug, and she is more than happy to provide. She always tries to remind him to eat his meals on time and such, even if she can be questionable at following her own advice at times. She can also be a bit of a tease sometimes, so he can get pretty annoyed (not really, he thinks it's cute) sometimes.

However, he also does his best to take care of her. Would he pull the "that's an order." card after she refuses to rest, pulling several late-nighters for work? Yeah. Probably. He's very caring, even if he can come off as very serious and scary sometimes.

To wrap things up, I love Yaag Rosch.

Thank you for your time.

[samthemarvelfan]

Graveyard: Chapter 2

-Coming Up Empty-

Summary: How could someone who once held your heart, be so heartless?

Pairing: Loki Odinson x OFC

Warnings: Sexual language, innuendos, threatening, Loki is a dick. Degradation.

A/N: Flashbacks are italicized. This chapter gives a brief look into why our reader is feeling the way she is. Enjoy! <3

After your much-needed, albeit not exactly relaxing bath, you felt 1000 times better. The grime and filth that had cemented into your hair and under your nails was gone, and you began to feel like yourself again.

Loki had given you privacy to get ready for dinner with the Grandmaster which, in turn, kept you from punching him in the face.

You’re still shaken. Shaken from both this place and the God with whom you’re stuck. It’s like he’s erased you from his memory. All the time you’d spent together, the memories...it means nothing to him. He’d kill you, you know he would, if you got in his way.

You’d have to survive. Survive just long enough to get back to Asgard and help your people. Then you would strike, when the time was right.

The dress he’d created for you was stunning, and it fit you like a glove. The silk felt like a mother’s hug around your body. It’s deep emerald complimented your skin tone beautifully, there was a very, very high slit over your left leg, and a sweetheart neckline to enhance your bosom perfectly.

Compliments of the God of Lies, no doubt.

After doing what you managed to call styling your hair, you’d found a toiletries bag hidden in a cupboard. Comb, toothbrush, deodorant, perfume and a few other bits and bobs.

For a nutjob he’s pretty hospitable to his guests.

“I’m ready, let’s get this trip to hell over with.” You gripe, stepping out into his room with your hands on your hips.

Loki is stood by the door, and when scans your body, he smirks.

“And what, may I ask, is so funny?”

Loki simply grabs his cloak and throws it on. “Nothing. You look like the perfect little wench. Let’s go, we shouldn’t be late—I watched this man melt his cousin.”

After quickly gagging at that sentence, you pressed on.

The walk to the banquet hall is silent, as you’d expect. What in Odin’s name were you suppose to say? So, how are things since you murdered your father? Cast any fun spells as of late? Does my home—our home lay in ruin?

It was hard to believe there was a time when you’d have done anything for Loki. The memories make you retreat into yourself, to a time when you weren’t one of the fiercest warriors in all of Asgard...

...but to a time when you were his.

“If you even think about trying that move on me, Loki Odinson, I can assure you I’ll be more than happy to cut off your favorite horn.” You threaten, holding up a dagger.

Loki laughed, “Why would I want to do anything that might scar that pretty face of yours, Ellaria?”

You feel the heat rise to your cheeks. “Stop using my full name—you know I hate that.”

His daggers vanish into his sleeves, and stalks towards you slowly, keeping your gaze the entire time. When he reaches you, you look down and cross your arms, using the gesture like a shield from him.

Loki thumbs your cheek, “...and you know I think it’s a beautiful name, for a beautiful woman.”

The butterflies soar in your stomach. “Loki...” you warn meekly.

“Yes, darling...what is it?” He whispers, and cups your face with both hands.

“What if someone sees?” The words are barely audible, but they don’t have to be—they’re only for him.

He smiles softly, “Let them. One day, I will be King, and anyone who dares interfere with my heart will be for the sword.”

“Your Father—“

“My Father...” Loki starts hatefully, but he calms, and lets his hands fall from your cheeks to hold your own, “Even he cannot stop my love for you. No one can.”

The sound of a whistle brings you back to reality.

“Ooo-hoo! Someone certainly looks like they’ve been worn out.” It’s the Grandmaster—mere inches from your face.

When did we get here? And why the hell is this guy so theatrical?

Loki’s arm snakes around your waist, “Indeed. I’ve decided I’d like to keep this one, Grandmaster. If that’s acceptable. I quite enjoy having a pet around”

The sickening grin on his face is enough to make you wretch.

“Of course! It’s so rare that you find the perfect consort to satisfy. And she’s so put together, not used like all of mine. What a shame I didn’t get to her first. Topaz, isn’t it a shame?”

The surly beast of a woman is once again stood by his side. “Mmm.” She grunts.

An incredibly painful silence falls between the group of you, before Grandmaster speaks. “Where are my manners? Dinner is served, please take a seat anywhere.”

Loki grips your arm yet again, and you wince. He either doesn’t know his own strength, or he’d doing it purposefully because it hurts much more than it before.

“Sit.” He commands, pointing at a seat. Ever the gentleman, he pulls out his own, but not yours.

Asshole. You think loudly, and his gaze returns to you.

“I thought you’d be grateful, pet. Not many masters allow their whores to dine with them. Isn’t that right, Grandmaster?” Loki’s asks, not breaking your eye contact.

Ouch.

The insults flowing from his mouth are coming far too easily, almost as though to make them clear he means them.

He probably does mean them. You think.

The GM—your new nickname for him, is at the head of the table. “No way. In fact, most of my ‘pleasure providers’ eat off of the floor in the corner. I can have a server bring her—“

“No, no.” Loki assures, “I only mean to condition her, so she knows just how fortunate she is to have been found by such a benevolent God.”

Taking you’re seat, you feel everyone’s eyes on you. Why are you so bothered? You’re a warrior, tougher than half the men on Asgard. But right now you’ve been reduced to nothing; simply a whore in a nice dress.

The ravenous appetite you’ve had your entire stay on Sakaar vanishes. All the while Loki is seemingly basking in the adoration he received for being a ‘king’. No matter what degradation or humiliation was tossed your way, he simply smiled and agreed with them.

How could you? You think loudly, but you know you’d never get an answer. This Loki felt nothing; no remorse, guilt, or love—he’s empty.

The strain in your throat made your bottom lip quiver. No, Ella. You curse yourself. Not here, you will not be made to feel this way. Not by him.

The evening dragged on, and on...and on. You were starving by the end of it, regretting not eating earlier, but you refused to let anyone know that. Besides, would they care? You’re just a pet to them after all.

“So, will you and yours be joining us on the pleasure vessel? I hate to brag, but my orgies are known far and wide to be absolutely wild.” The GM says giddily.

Loki’s smile is one of obligation, “I’m afraid not. I have high standards, and she doesn’t meet them yet. I wouldn’t want her embarrassing me.”

That one knocked the wind out if you. You felt your eyes watering and had to bite back the tears. He doesn’t remember...or he doesn’t care too.

You want to go home. Back to the warmth of your bed. Where your people were, your friends...you want the life you once had back.

You want Loki to be Loki again.

Once back in Loki’s chambers, you head straight for the bathing room, ignoring his protests and snide commentary.

The overwhelming severity of everything hits you suddenly. Your hand flies to your mouth, muffling the sob trying so hard to escape your lungs.

You slide down onto the floor and weep. How long has it been since your cried like this? You couldn’t remember. Your body racked with grief as you attempt to come to grips with your new normal.

The Loki you knew is dead. The memories you have from all those life times ago mean nothing. You mean nothing—not to him.

The sound of footsteps getting closer to the door silent your sobs. You stand quickly, attempting to wipe away any evidence of your cry-fest.

Loki barges in, dressed in black silk nightwear. “Here, I had the servants bring you something to sleep in.”

You still haven’t spoken, or looked at him. Holding a hand out, you clear your throat. “Fine.”

He tuts, “Perhaps a ‘thank you, my liege’ is in order.” He’s jesting, you know he is. There’s no mistaking that tone.

But you don’t care, not right now. You look up at him with swollen, red eyes. “Thank you, sire. Would you like me to fawn at your feet? Perhaps do all of the unspeakable things you’ve allowed that psycho to presume I’ve been doing, hm?”

Loki is almost taken aback by the state you’re in. “Ellaria,” he says in a tone you hadn’t heard in years. Warning, but not threatening.

You cry out. “I’m not your whore! You’ve known me our whole lives, and yet you degrade me and humiliate for sport. You allow these people to believe you’d have no problem discarding my body once you’ve gotten all you can get out of it.”

His face is unreadable as always. His emotions are in complete control, as is his tone. “You are all of those things here,” He says harshly. “It would do you well to remember that.”

Your heart, along with whatever scrap of care or hope you had for him, breaks.

 Loki—your Loki, is truly gone.

“Dress. You need to sleep.” He mumbles, leaving you to it.

The tears return, if only for a moment. You let out a long sigh, and will your self the strength to get through this hell.

Once dressed in your sleepwear—a black, silk nightgown, you exit the bathing room to see Loki laid up in his bed. Content as ever.

You’d searched the room and spotted a chair across from the windows. That’ll have to do. You lay across it as best you can, not fitting entirely, but enough so only your lower legs hung off.

Still better than a cell floor.

“What are you doing?” Loki calls, his eyes still closed.

You ignore him, and shut your eyes as well.

“Answer me. I don’t like repeating myself.”

You sigh, “I’m going to sleep. Leave me alone.”

You twist on the chair, attempting to find some kind of comfortable relief, but there isn’t any. You both know it.

“Come here. Now. Do not test my patience again.” He commands.

You stand, walking to the foot of his bed. “What now? What could you possibly have left to say to me?”

Loki’s nostrils flair, “You may join me.” He gestures to the bed.

You scoff. “No thanks, I’d rather take the floor.”

You spin around, about to settle into the carpet, when you’re suddenly scooped up and thrown onto the bed.

“Loki! Stop it!” You shout.

He ignores you, and get in as well. You scoot as far away as you can go.

“Sleep. You need your rest.” He says quietly, throwing an arm over his eyes.

You wish you could hide the content sigh that escaped you, but this bed was heaven. Soft, warm, and so big. You could spend days here just recovering on all the sleepless nights you’d had.

“Next time food is presented to you, you will eat.” Loki warns, “I don’t need you withering away to nothing...not when I need you.”

Damn curiosity got to you. “What do you need me for, Loki?” It comes out like a whisper, but you couldn’t have mustered more strength if you tried.

He chuckled lightly, “You, my dear pet, are going to help me get back my crown.”

tagging:

@jessiejunebug @babyboybucky

[vegetasleftsock]

A Devil’s Smile (Chapter 6)

Read the entire work on AO3 here -> A Devil’s Smile

Catch up on previous chapters:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |

Authors note: This chapter is particularly meaningful.. lots of great angst and more background about Milla.

Thank you to @minyapaws​ for helping me with concepts and editing. I feel like my work really transformed after our conversation. Please go read her story, "Ox Queen" if you haven't already. It is FANTASTICALLY written and so well thought out.

If you've read this far, thanks for sticking with the story! Find me on AO3 @vegetasleftsock​. Leave your feedback and thoughts in the comments! I love to read them :)

Here’s the link to the song mentioned in the chapter  “Amarillo By Morning” - George Strait  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZBf16B5vhs 

Chapter 6 - Promises and Pride

A tall, thin waitress with curly red hair and a bright smile approached the high top table where Milla and Vegeta sat. She was wearing a tight, navy blue, v-neck t-shirt and ripped skinny jeans with a black apron tied around her tiny waist. 

The attractive waitress shone her blindingly white smile at the pair and handed them each a menu and a set of silverware. 

“Hi, guys! Welcome to Umai Ramen! My name is Amy and I’ll be your server today.” She glanced back and forth between Vegeta and Milla before clapping her hands together. “Can I get you two started with something to drink? We have soda, beer on tap, and sake.”

Milla stared at her intently as she spoke and gave her an earnest smile before starting to order. “We’ll both have whatever craft beer you’re into at the moment,” Milla said, batting her eyelashes and still smiling softly at the redhead with her cheek in her palm. 

Vegeta glanced up from his menu and watched the interaction silently. He raised an eyebrow and questioned to himself why Milla seemed to be laying it on thick with this waitress. 

“Actually,” Vegeta started, causing the waitress to stop the scribbles she was making on her notepad and look up towards his voice. “You can get me a water.”

The woman awkwardly smiled and nodded her head. “You got it. I’m going to go ahead and put these in for you guys while you take a look at the menu. Be right back!” The waitress said with a polite grin before striding away.

“She’s so pretty,” Milla said nonchalantly while her eyes glazed over the long, creme colored, laminated menu. 

Vegeta scoffed and looked mildly disgusted. “She looks like she could be crushed with a gust of wind.” 

“If you don’t think she’s hot, you’ve got some fucked up taste.” Milla shrugged while still glancing over the menu. 

“Ha!” Vegeta laughed, setting his menu down on the wooden table to cross his arms across his chest in a gesture of confidence. “What does that say about yourself-”

In the middle of speaking, Vegeta had realized what he just admitted to, but it was too late to take the words back. 

Milla sat in silence, staring, burning a hole through her menu. Without moving her face, she glanced to the side and then looked up to meet Vegeta’s gaze. 

She analyzed his face and saw him trying to play it off, but the color in his face was a dead giveaway. It was the same face he had made the night they had met, when Milla had used her finger to lift his face towards her while she performed. 

Milla rolled her lips in, trying to hide her smile and spare his pride but she couldn’t contain herself any longer. She burst out into laughter at the sight of him. His wide-eyed reaction sent her even further into her laughing fit until she buckled over from the cramps in her side. 

She was flattered, but the look he gave her after he slipped was what made her lose it. Had Vegeta not acted like a little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Milla might have entertained the conversation in a different way. 

“Hoo!” Milla breathed while wiping a tear from her eye. “That was fucking hilarious.” She said, still slightly chuckling. 

Before Vegeta could respond, the waitress reappeared and started to set cardboard coasters on the table, followed by their drinks. 

“Alrighty, guys. Are we ready to order?” The waitress said, pen and pad ready. 

“Yes,” Milla said, regathering herself. “Can I please get a black tonkotsu with the thicker noodles?”

“Sure can. And for you?” The waitress asked, looking to Vegeta.

“Uh- I’ll have the same thing,” Vegeta said, realizing he hadn’t finished looking at the menu.

“Awesome! We’ll get that right out for you.”

“Thank you,” Milla beamed. “By the way, your hair is just so gorgeous.”

Vegeta rolled his eyes and looked away, refusing to watch as Milla flirted with the taller female.

“Well, thank you! That’s so sweet,” the woman said, shining her big, bright smile and happy eyes at Milla. “Let me know if you guys need anything else!” She nodded towards them before walking away.

“So, I’ve never asked,” Milla said, trying to revive the conversation. “What do you do? Bulma told me that you like, fight and protect the Earth and shit, but is that all you do?” She said before taking a sip of her beer. 

“Is that all I do,” Vegeta derided her question, almost mocking her. “Saiyans are warriors meant to pursue greater power. It’s not some silly little Earth duty. In fact, I’ve neglected my training by being here.” 

Milla pursed her lips and nodded. “Not a silly little Earth duty. Noted.”

“I can’t imagine what kind of dull positions Earthlings hold anyways.” Vegeta stated plainly.

“For your information, not all of them happen to be dull,” Milla said, rolling her head to the side a little bit, her eyes looking up and appearing to question her own words. “My day job just so happens to be kind of bland, but it makes ends meet.”

“My point.” Vegeta said.

“Guess you got me there.” Milla laughed, her arms crossing on the table. Her sleeves were pushed up to her elbows, leaving her tattoos on display.

“What’s the reason for these?” Vegeta asked, his eyes set on her body art.

Milla looked at him, eyebrows raised. “My tattoos? I’m guessing that’s not something people have where you’re from. They’re all stories, things I find beautiful, or am attached to.”

“This one is a date,” she said pointing to a roman numeral on the side of her wrist. “My mom and dad shared a birthday. My mom passed not too long after I was born and my dad, Leo, would honor her memory every year on that day by continuing to celebrate as if she was there. It helped me feel connected to her, even though I never really met her.”

Vegeta sat, quietly listening as Milla continued to explain the story behind each of her bigger pieces.

Milla pointed to another tattoo, the one on her forearm. She laid her arm flat on the table to show him. 

“This one is my childhood dog, Pinto. I grew up with him and he’s easily one of nicest dogs I’ve ever known. It was hard to lose him, but I got this tattooed so I could always see his sweet face wherever I go.” She admitted, a small smile crossing her lips as she remembered her black and tan Labrador. 

“Have you ever had a pet? You don’t seem much like an animal person.”

The first thing that came to Vegeta’s mind was Nappa. Having to babysit him was the only thing he could relate to in terms of having that kind of responsibility. He just shook his head in response. 

The waitress returned to their table with two large ceramic bowls. “Okie dokie, we have two black tonkatsu with udon noodles. Is there anything else I can grab you? Everything looks good?”

“Looks fantastic. Thank you.” Milla said.

Vegeta and Milla continued to learn more about each other over dinner. There were even a few moments where both of them shared small laughs. Milla liked being able to make Vegeta smile, even if it was just for a quick moment and even if it was only because she said something sarcastic about someone he disliked.

After they paid the bill and left a substantial tip, Milla convinced Vegeta to follow her back to her apartment despite his resistance. 

He was spending a lot of time away from his training- too much time. He feared he was becoming too comfortable in his situation and that it would put him behind in his progress. The thought itself was unacceptable, but he pushed the feeling into the back of his mind - at least long enough that he could enjoy the events that ensued once they returned. 

Vegeta tested her limits, and she tested his patience in a way that only further motivated his lust towards her. They ended only when they were both completely spent, which is a state that landed upon Milla long before Vegeta - but not something she was going to willingly admit or display. 

The pair stayed where they were at to sleep for no reason other than pure exhaustion, but it’s not something that either of them were upset about.

 Milla enjoyed having his warm presence in her bed and felt herself starting to let her walls down just slightly. Her chest clenched when she thought about it. Lust was one thing, friends with benefits was another thing, but commitment was not something she was ready for or even consciously interested in. 

She thought about one of the values that her father always drilled into her.

Milla’s father, Leo, sat in the driver’s seat of the car. His blue eyes remained on the road ahead as he spoke to her. He was average height and build, wearing a black t-shirt, loose fitting jeans and motorcycle boots. His hair and goatee were silver and it had been that way since she was a little girl. He told her once that he started graying at 18 and that he was completely gray by 20. He was heavily tattooed, with almost his entire torso filled with art. Leo left his hands, neck, and face empty so that he could still look professional at work, but now, on his day off, his tattoos laid freely on the parts of his skin that his t-shirt left exposed. A single tattoo adorned the pinky side of his fist, a squashed insect, which represented a story from his childhood. 

“You have your whole life to settle down, have kids, and do domestic shit,” Leo said. “Travel. See the world. Pursue your biggest dreams. And if you’re still dissatisfied after that, THEN find a partner. It’s not worth it before that point.”

Milla pouted her lip out. As a young girl, she always wanted to date like her friends did. At this time, she was 12 and in middle school and Leo still forbade it. 

“I don’t understand why I can’t find someone I love and travel the world WITH them,” Milla said, looking at her father who frowned at her response. “Wouldn’t that make it more fun?”

“It’s hard to understand this now, but when you meet someone you love, your world stops. It starts to focus around them and you don’t feel the need to put your effort into other things. That is until that initial bond fades and you’re left with regrets.” Leo said, gaze unmoving from what was in front of him. “You fall in love, you get married, you settle down and before you know it you have bills and kids who need and deserve all of your time and attention. It’s not fair to them to be selfish.”

Milla looked down at her hands as she twiddled her thumbs. She didn’t want to believe her dad. She wanted to love and to be loved by someone so bad. 

“Milla,” Leo said, glancing over at her. “If nothing else, promise me you’ll see the world. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but there’s so much out there past this little town. All the foods you and I try, you’ll love them more in person. I want you to feel whole whenever you do find your partner and I know this is the best way to do it. Promise me, Milla.” 

Milla looked up towards her father, her only family in the whole world, and saw him as a parent, pleading with his only child to not make the same mistakes he made. As it often did, her heart hurt for him.

“Okay, dad. I promise.” Milla said, running her father’s words through her head, almost as if she was recording them for safe keeping. 

“What if i’m afraid?”

“It’s okay to be afraid, but remember. You have to let your confidence win over that fear. Never let it overpower you, never let it win.” Leo said.

Milla clenched her fists, battling a list of fears in her head: the fear of being alone, the fear of not fulfilling her father’s promises, the fear of failure, the fear of being hurt.

She looked down at her hands again, nails digging into her palms. “I won’t dad. I won’t ever let it win.”

Milla heaved a deep sigh after replaying the memory in her mind and thumbed over the date on the side of her wrist. Her mom’s date. Her dad’s date. 

Her heart felt like it caved into her stomach. It had been five years since she heard her father’s voice. The father that made her who she is. The reason why she performs, the reason why she lives outside of the norm. He was also the father who broke her heart and her spirit. She kept this brokenness shoved deep inside where no one could ever see. No one was ever going to see her hurt, her fear- especially not her father. Not after what happened between them. 

She looked over to Vegeta laying next to her. He was either asleep or pretending to be. His face usually looks so angry, but now she thought he looked strangely relaxed. 

Milla stared at the ceiling and wondered what exactly she had gotten herself into. Regardless of what she felt for Vegeta, and regardless of how her father hurt her, she was never going to give up that promise that she made him. 

~ 

Early morning came and Milla carefully lifted herself out of bed, doing her best not to awake Vegeta from his sleep.

 She brushed her teeth and washed her face before going out to the kitchen. She decided she probably couldn’t keep as quiet as was necessary while cooking, so she crept back into her bedroom, grabbed her headphones and closed the door slowly until there was a soft, ‘click’. 

Milla started to pull pans and ingredients out from her cupboard and put an earbud in each ear. She switched to her dirty pleasure playlist- country music. It reminded her of home and though she would rather die than admit she had an affinity for the genre, it was her favorite music to cook and do chores to. 

Milla started by mixing the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.

Then the wet ingredients: eggs, milk, and melted butter. 

As she combined the wet and dry ingredients into a batter, she sang along to the music softly. 

“Amarillo by morning, up from San Antone. Everything that I’ve got- is just what I’ve got on…”

She turned on the stove and pulled a cup of chocolate chips out of a container. 

“When that sun is high in that Texas sky, I’ll be buckin’ at the country fair…” 

The lyrics reminded Milla of small town dances, sunsets rising over fields of endless corn, the smell of morning dew and rich soil. 

Milla was always the odd one out. She remembered an incident her freshman year of high school. Her basketball team told everyone to wear boots, but the only boots Milla owned were knee-high Doc Martens. She had assumed it would be okay since it was all she had. When she showed up, everyone was wearing western boots except for her. The seniors on the team zeroed in on her and made sure she knew that she was the black sheep of the team. This was just the start of a long line of incidents that occurred through her time in her tiny Texas town. 

It took years of separation and a strong sense of nostalgia to bring her back to listening to country music. Now, she was confident that she could push those who alienated her to the back of her mind and focus on the good memories that the music was a soundtrack to. 

“Amarillo by mornin’, Amarillo, I’ll be there.” 

Milla grabbed a pat of butter from the fridge and tossed it in the pan. The heated pan sizzled on contact with the butter, and she rotated the pan to coat it. 

“They took my saddle in Houston, broke my legs in Santa Fe. Lost my wife and a girlfriend, somewhere along the way.” 

She remembered cooking these same pancakes with her father on Sunday mornings.

 It was her grandmother’s recipe- the same one who gifted her the emerald earrings she wore every workday. 

Leo was an amazing cook. Before Milla’s mom passed, he had aspired to become a chef and go to culinary school. Although taking care of Milla became a full-time job as a single father, it never stopped him from experimenting with new dishes and teaching Milla as much about the culinary arts as he could. 

“Look Milla,” Leo said. “It’s all in the wrist.” He grinned widely before flipping a pancake up into the air and back into the pan.  

“Wow!” Milla cheered, clapping for her father. “I wish I could do that.” 

“Practice makes perfect.” Her father said, tearing a piece of the pancake off and feeding it to Pinto, who was wagging his tail happily at the offering.

 Milla turned the volume up on her headphones, hoping to drown out the thoughts that made her miss everything she used to have. 

She grabbed a spoonful of batter and poured it carefully into the pan before methodically placing chocolate chips into the raw, gooey pancake.

 “But I’ll be looking for eight when they pull that gate- and I hope that judge ain’t blind.” 

Vegeta woke up in an unfamiliar place. He realized he was still in Milla’s bedroom. He had stayed the night. Fallen asleep. Trespassed his boundaries for himself and everyone else. The discomfort with his current situation swelled inside of his chest. He needed to leave - now. 

Vegeta hastily put his clothes back on, looking around and trying to figure out where Milla had gone. He was hoping that she had already left for work. The last thing he needed was Milla looking at him with those dark brown eyes and questioning why he was rushing. It would only be a greater waste of his already poorly spent time. He heard her singing from outside the door and came to terms with the fact that she was fully awake and home. This was not going to be easy, but Vegeta was not going to play a coward’s game. He had his pride. 

He walked out the door and stood a couple of feet behind her and leaned against the wall, arms crossed. He listened to her sing for a moment, allowing the peace to remain for a few seconds more. As she sang each word, her accent was more and more apparent. He thought that it must be a quality that she chose to suppress. 

 “Amarillo by mornin’, Amarillo’s on my mind.” 

Milla placed the golden brown pancake on top of the stack that was growing on a plate next to her and turned to grab another pat of butter from the fridge. 

When she saw Vegeta out the corner of her eye she jumped, startled. Her face turned bright red while she wondered how long he had been standing there. 

“You just love to sneak up on me, don’t you? Take a seat,” she gestured at the kitchen table with her spatula. “There’s enough ready that you can at least have a first serving.” 

“That won’t be necessary,” Vegeta stated plainly.

 “Oh yea?” Milla said, plucking an earbud out of her ear. Her heart sunk a little at the thought of being left alone with her feelings. She didn’t want to address how she felt about Vegeta, but his presence was still comforting. “Got somewhere you have to be?”

 She held her confidence in her throat, knowing at any moment if she took a deep breath, it would come tumbling out and break her facade. 

“Yes,” he said, looking towards the window where the sun was peeking out into the dark night sky, creating the tip of a sunrise. “This is the last time we can do this.” 

He turned his face towards her and their eyes met. He watched as her face contorted with confusion and what he recognized as a hint of anger. 

“Do what, exactly?” Milla asked, her tone sharpening. Her eyebrows furrowed and she blinked like it would somehow correct the words she was hearing. 

“Be around each other in this situation. I know you’ve grown close to some of those inside of the small web of people I know, so I don’t expect to not see you. But never again in private.” 

If looks could kill, Vegeta would be long gone.

Milla sat the spatula down and turned the stove off. 

“What the actual fuck, Vegeta?” She growled under her breath while clenching her hands into her fists like she would every time she was scared as a little girl. Her fingernails dug further into her palms as she seethed.

“This has been a waste of my time.” Vegeta said, his stare matching her intensity.

Milla’s forehead bunched up and she threw her head back and laughed. 

In the back of Vegeta’s mind, the laugh reminded him of unsettling memories from his past. Her laugh was fueled by pure rage - he was sure of it. 

“A waste of your time, huh?” She said with one hand on the kitchen chair, tapping her foot in rhythm with her racing heartbeat. 

She walked up to him and shoved him back by the shoulder. He barely moved, but the action made him stumble slightly out of surprise. 

He glared at her, hoping she’d let it go, but it seemed to only fuel Milla further. 

“Since we’re sharing our feelings, do you want to know what’s a waste of MY time?” Milla snapped. “YOU. Thinking you can literally barge your way into my fucking life like some rouge bulldozer. Honestly Vegeta, what kind of fucked up are you that you literally had me thinking for EVEN A SPLIT SECOND that I might have cared about you? You took care of me, took interest in me, LITERALLY admitted your attraction to me and led me on to think you cared and now you’re just going to act like I don’t exist? Because why, Vegeta?” 

She pushed her chest against his brick wall of a body shoving him back slightly, looking up at him as he looked straight past her. 

“HUH? Look at me.” She demanded in a low tone. 

He flipped his glare down to look her in the eye. The more time he spent here, the more damage would be created and he was well aware of that. 

“Because why, Vegeta?” she repeated, getting close to his face. “Because it’s too much for you? Is the brave Prince Vegeta too afraid to face his own fucking feelings?” Each word she spoke was like venom. “Just as I thought initially. Fucking. Pathetic.” 

She held eye contact with him for another full moment before shoving herself away from him. She turned around and started walking towards her bedroom. 

“Get the fuck out, Vegeta.” She said. 

Vegeta stood where she left him, his blood boiling at the brim of each insult that cut into his pride. 

He didn’t have his father, he didn’t have his people, but he had his pride. 

“And you think that you can get off acting like some little spoiled brat?” He laughed, smirking at her as though her words left him unaffected. 

“Vegeta. Shut the fuck up and get the fuck out!” Milla yelled. 

“How could you be so dense as to think that I would be interested in commitment with a dirty little Earth brat like you? I wouldn’t dare destroy my royal bloodline by choosing someone like you as my mate.” Vegeta said, lying through his teeth. 

“Dude, you are seriously fucked up! Get the FUCK out of my house, Vegeta!” Milla shouted, pointing at the door.

He took a couple of steps towards Milla and locked eyes with her, their staring contest commencing once again. 

“I expected more from you, Milla.” Vegeta said, cupping her chin. Her eyes went wide when she heard those words, and a shock went bellowing through her entire body. He was saying things out of pure spite at this point, choosing anything he could say that would hurt her. He scoffed and left without another word. 

Milla stood motionless, eyes still wide as saucers. Her facade crumbled and her knees gave out beneath her as tears streamed down her face. She didn’t feel like she was crying, but the warmth of the little droplets running down her cheeks told her that she was. 

Her body was frozen, those words echoing in her head. 

“I expected more from you, Milla.” Vegeta said.

 “I expected more from you, Milla.” Leo said. 

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Dawn in your Eyes Part 18

Summary: Alfie has little to no idea why Caroline ever gave him the time of day. The blind woman seemed far too sensible to even speak to him. But soon he finds himself falling helplessly in love.

Part 18: Alfie hates being vulnerable especially in front of Tommy Shelby

            On Alfie’s first day back to work, he tried to keep his stress level down to a minimum. He didn’t need more of a headache than he already had.

            Some men who were more comfortable with their boss offered their well wishes. Saying how glad they were to hear he had recovered from the gunshot. Others didn’t say anything about the injury and made sure not to stare.

            Disgruntled and feeling very uncomfortable in his own domain, Alfie was in a foul mood. Or rather nothing felt right.

            Because when Ollie came knocking saying that Tommy was there, Alfie didn’t get more upset. In fact, he got a bit relieved. Perhaps because the man had been there when Alfie was shot. He’d protected his wife, helped cover her hair when she asked, delivered her to Julia, and waited at the hospital.

            “Morning, Alfie.” Tommy greeted him as if it were any ordinary day. He figured that would be the best approach.

            “Yeah, s’pose it is. When you’ve got people doing double-takes as you walk down the street.” Alfie attempted to sound lighthearted but he sounded a bit wounded.

            Tommy took a seat. “Still in pain?” He didn’t care what people did in the streets. In fact, he’d bet that people always stared at men like them.

            “Well, it ain’t a walk in the park but I’m still breathing, right?” Alfie reached for a pen to fiddle with.

            Tommy couldn’t help but notice the man completely misjudged where the pen was, falling short before trying to reach further to grab it. He didn’t call attention to it though. “I can imagine the migraines are difficult. Must’ve been a lot of trauma.”

            “Everything’s manageable, Tommy.”

            “Right.” The Brummie nodded, realizing Alfie wasn’t in the market for any sympathy. He didn’t seem like the type to accept it.

            “Thing is, mate, I’ve got two wops chained up in me basement right now.” He pointed to the ground. “They’re bleeding out, should be dead soon ‘nough thought I’d give them time to think ‘bout what they’ve done. Ain’t nothing I haven’t dealt with before. Once they’re dead, they’re dumped on Farringdon.”

            “So, why’ve you called me ‘round?”

            “S’all, the same thing, innit? Same message that we all understand. Yet, for some reason me wife was still kidnapped despite what I’ve demonstrated, I could do to them.”

            Tommy raised an eyebrow. After all the time he’d known Alfie, he could still hardly follow the man’s train of thought. He always had the potential to go to a million different directions with his little speeches. “Get to the fucking point, Alfie.”

            “The point is, I need to send a stronger message. Unthinkable happened, yeah, and those fucking lowlifes need to understand. Unthinkable happens, they receive an unthinkable punishment.”

            “And what would you have me do? I helped you find her, made sure you didn’t die, and now you’re asking more from me?” Tommy wasn’t going to let him get familiar with the feeling of comradery. They weren’t allies. He would pick and choose when he wanted to help Alfie and any agreements were signed in ink. Nothing verbal. He couldn’t trust the man if his signature wasn’t on paper.

            “Ain’t a favor to me, mate, it’s an opportunity for you.”

            Tommy scoffed and rolled his eyes, completely unconvinced. Alfie wouldn’t give him an opportunity without something in return. “A favor? From you? Really?”

            Alfie laced his fingers together and rested them on his desk. “I help you run Sabini’s men off the tracks. Enough of them that he takes notice and it hits him hard in the wallet. And when he does notice, you tell him that these are the consequences. Italians end up dead and he don’t make money from the races.”

            It was tempting although Tommy wasn’t sure it was a good strategy. The best thing he could do was take the thanks for finding Caroline and go about their separate businesses. The more intertwined they got with favors and agreements; the messier things became. Still, Tommy considered the benefits. Sabini couldn’t handle both the Jews and the Blinders. They were too powerful together. So much so, in fact, that it wouldn’t be much of a fair fight.

            “For how long?” Tommy asked.

            “For as long as you want, mate.” He shrugged. “You want more control over the tracks, I want to send a message. Seems to work out for the both of us, don’t it?”

            “I’ll think about it.”

            Alfie raised an eyebrow but nodded. “Better than a no.” He ceded and reached for his cane leaning on the desk so he could stand up. But he didn’t even end up close to where the cane was and ended up with a handful of papers instead. “Fuck.” He muttered under his breath and tried again but knocked the cane over the second time around.

            Tommy bent forward to pick it up and hand it to him. He noticed Alfie wouldn’t meet his eye and acted like it was just a mistake. “When I was recovering from surgery, not so long ago,” He cleared his throat, “I couldn’t even move. I’d been hit in the head so fucking hard, so many times that they really did a number on me. Was in that fucking bed for weeks. Couldn’t speak, couldn’t sit up. They had to teach me to walk again.”

            “Why’re you telling me this, Tom?” Alfie asked, a bit suspicious of the man’s point.

            “We were in the war; we were taught not to show weakness. If we were shot, we carried on. You and I, we don’t appreciate being disabled by anything. But that’s just the way things are, sometimes.” Tommy spoke in a gentler tone than he usually took with Alfie.

            He sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, whatever.” It was difficult to admit that Tommy was right. In fact, it was hard to admit that there were things beyond his control. Just the way things were? Utter nonsense in his opinion.

            Tommy withdrew from the conversation. He wasn’t in the mood to get Alfie all worked up over nothing. “Well, I hope Caroline’s well.” He stood up and gathered his cap. “I’ll think about your proposition.” He added.

            “Good, good.” It was almost strange to be concluding their meeting so civilly. No death threats were slung about, no haggling of percentages, just two men conducting civil business. Maybe the bullet had done more damage than Alfie thought.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            July was ending and Caroline was very optimistic. Alfie was healing very nicely. Although his sight hadn’t recovered in his left eye, his headaches were getting gradually better. The skin around his eye was lined with scars, divots in his cheek that she could feel when she touched his face. But it was a big improvement from when he was in the hospital so doped up on drugs, he couldn’t stay awake.

            She was in the late stages of her pregnancy. Julia predicted the baby would be born in the last weeks of August. And according to Hanna, Camden’s most reputable midwife, everything would go smoothly.

            That’s all Caroline could hope for. A manageable labor and a healthy baby. She wanted to just focus on the things that were the most important. Alfie’s recovery and their child. But familiar fears were starting to creep in, especially once the pregnancy really started to show.

            Julia was appalled by the subtle rumors she heard about her niece. They were told to her by concerned neighbors. Outrageous lies that made her blood boil like how the baby would be born blind too, the baby wouldn’t make it to term or would be stillborn, Caroline had intentionally gotten pregnant to keep Alfie in the marriage, or that she wasn’t even pregnant at all.

            It was maddening to Julia, but she could only angrily dispel the rumors and try to keep her niece none the wiser about what was said. Caroline didn’t need any added stress. But there was nothing she could do if she wasn’t around to shield Caroline.

                       One morning, with the sweltering hot summer sun on her face, Caroline headed down to the shop. Pilot led her through the streets but paused whenever someone stopped to talk to them.

            “Goodness, Caroline, look at you glow!” Golde, one of their elderly neighbors crowed happily.

            “Are you sure it isn’t sweat? This heat is unbearable.” Caroline smiled sheepishly and cradled her stomach.

            “Nonsense, you look beautiful. Mazel tov and give my love to Alfie.”

            “Yoo-hoo, Caroline!” Another neighbor, Lea, called her over. “Just in time, I’ve finished knitting that blanket I promised I’d make you.”

            “Oh goodness, so quickly?” Caroline let Pilot guide her safely across the street. “You must’ve been knitting up a storm all month.”

            Lea giggled. “It’s just inside, I’ll run and grab it.” She hurried into her flat to retrieve the gift.

            Caroline waited by the stoop, her back turned to the street with Pilot at her feet. Only a couple of moments later, she picked up on a conversation passing by her.

            “It’s like having a fish on the line, Julia isn’t going to allow Alfie to leave Caroline. What an embarrassment that would be to the family.”

            Upon hearing her name, she instantly tensed up. And it didn’t help that it sounded like the same two women who had been talking about her after Seder.

            “Do you even think she’s pregnant?” The other asked.

            “I should hope not. What sort of child could she produce?”

            Caroline was fed up. She would not run away crying this time. She would not retreat to a safe place to pick up the pieces of her dignity. No. Because with each day she carried her child, she became less and less doubtful of herself as a mother. If she was not meant to be a mother, if God hadn’t chosen her to carry this child, then the pregnancy never would’ve happened. She trusted in Julia’s assurances that this was in God’s plan for her and Alfie.

            So, she turned around. “If you have something to say about me and my husband you should say it to my face.” She snapped.

            There was an obvious sound of footsteps stuttering as the two women screeched to a halt. “Mrs. Solomons…” One of them uttered, a hint of dread in her voice.

            “Otherwise, keep my husband’s name out of your conversations. He is of no interest to you.” Her grip on Pilot’s lead tightened in anger.

            “We didn’t-”

            “Soon enough you can talk about how perfect my child is. Apparently, you enjoy being jealous.” And with that, Caroline turned away from the women who looked absolutely gobsmacked.

            “Here it is then.” Lea came out of the flat. She glanced toward the two women who were scurrying away, trying to escape the situation. “Everything alright?” She noticed the frown on Caroline’s face.

            “Of course, it’s just so hot out.” She replied, softening her features.

            “It really is.” Lea folded up the blanket and guided Caroline’s hand to feel it. “Softest yarn I could find. A beautiful cream color and it should be easy to wash.”

            “Oh, Lea, thank you so much. This is such a lovely gift.” Caroline ran her fingertips over the soft fibers of the knitted blanket.

            “It’s the least I could do.” Her neighbor tucked the blanket into Caroline’s basket. “Mazel tov.”

            She beamed and almost wanted to congratulate herself for standing up to the women who had torn her down before. “I’ll see you soon, Lea. Thank you, again.”

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

            It was long past dinner by the time Alfie returned home. He trudged into the kitchen where their maid was cleaning out the icebox.

            “Sorry to keep ya waiting, Candace.” He waved an apologetic hand her way as he slumped down into a chair to unlace his boots. Cyril and Apollo crowded around him, scratching at his legs to greet him.

            “No worries, Mr. Solomons.” Candace was a young woman who had recently moved from Ireland to London. She applied to the position that Alfie had placed in the paper. Someone needed to tend after the house, to help out Caroline when she needed, and someone who could look after the baby should they need assistance. It was an extreme vetting process, but Alfie didn’t care. He wanted to make sure the person in his household for hours on end, alone with his wife and child had a squeaky-clean record.

            Candace passed the test and was hired months earlier to get settled before the baby arrived. She proved to be a nice girl with all the best intentions. She spoke respectfully and did her job well. It may have been that Alfie was paying her top dollar for the position, but Caroline seemed to think she was a genuine person. The two got along well and often times, when Alfie came home, he could find them chattering away with each other.

            “Carrie’s upstairs?” He asked, nudging the dogs to the side so he could remove his boots.

            “In the nursery.” She confirmed.

            “Good, have a good night then.” He dismissed her as he was about to leave the kitchen.

            “You too, sir.” Candance shut the icebox and reached around her waist to remove her apron. But she paused. “Erm, Mr. Solomons?”

            “Hm?” He stopped in the doorway.

            “Well, I didn’t want to alarm Mrs. Solomons, but there have been men coming down the street. I haven’t quite gotten a good look at any of them, but I believe it’s the same group of people. They’ve been leaving flyers on the doorstep. Not just here but all up and down the street. I haven’t kept any because…well, they were just so awful and I thought they might stop soon.”

            Alfie’s jaw tensed. “What do they say?” He asked.

            Candace averted her eyes and chewed on her lip. “They’re lies about Jews. Just awful, awful things. And I didn’t want to worry you or Mrs. Solomons because of the baby coming soon. But I’m afraid what will happen if they keep coming by. I want to make sure Mrs. Solomons is kept safe.” Her voice went up an octave in panic.

            Alfie sighed. “Alright, alright, s’okay. You ‘n Caroline aren’t in any danger if you stay in the house. But if they come ‘round again, you call me, yeah? Call the bakery and let me know. If they leave something else, you keep it so I can look over it.”

            She nodded. “Okay, I will.”

            He noticed how shaken she was. “Right, can I call Ishmael to drive you home?” He offered.

            “Oh, no. I’ll be alright.” She went to gather her coat and purse.

            “Stay here.” Alfie knew she was just trying to be polite. “Let me ring him and he’ll be ‘round soon.”

            Candace nodded meekly. It was a welcome gesture of security, so she went to wait by the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~

            Alfie went up to ring his driver before going to find Caroline. She was in the nursery with Pilot, idly straightening and moving things around. A clear indication that she just couldn’t wait for their son or daughter.

            In fact, she often spent time in the room, just to sit or touch the items they’d bought in preparation. Soft swaddles, a cot, and plush toys. There were a few storybooks lined up on a shelf. Some were in braille so Caroline could read to the baby too.

            As Alfie walked in, he saw her neatly folding a cream knitted blanket over the side of the cot. “That’s new, innit?” He sometimes lost track of all the things they’d bought.

            “Lea gave it to me today. She said she just finished making it.” Caroline smiled and smoothed her hands over the blanket.

            “Well, that is very nice, very nice.” He walked over to see the gift. “I’ll have to send her my thanks.”

            Caroline touched his shoulder. “I’m very excited.” She murmured.

            “I am too. Can't wait." That was what they needed to look forward to. Not gossiping neighbors. Not fascists looking to start trouble. 

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